


The Aura Seal

by RZGaige (RZG)



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aura - Freeform, Friendship, Gen, Pokemon Sun & Moon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-10-27 04:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 45,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10802070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RZG/pseuds/RZGaige
Summary: After Kalos' crisis, Lysander is not as dead as everyone thought. With his mind still set on erasing humankind from the planet, he puts a new plan in motion. One that involves getting ahold of a certain young trainer currently allocated in Alola.





	1. Plans in Motion

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Pokémon is copyrighted property of Nintendo.  
>  **Authoress' Note:** Stupid plot bunnies won't leave me alone :'D I should stop putting aside my other projects for things like this but… really couldn't stop this from happening!  
>  The idea has been bothering me for quite a while now, so here it is hoping it will flow easier. I have most of it all writen down already, but I'm missing a few connecting dots here and there; which are being the vain of my existance when trying to convert all my notes into decent writing...  
> My main objective was to practice a certain narration style which I'm still green at, so bare with me, please.  
> If you wonder about the timeline, this is set sometime between episodes ten and fifteen of Sun and Moon.  
> Hope you enjoy the reading!

The legends had been proven real, and Lysandre couldn't have been more satisfied. A faint smile grazed his lips as he admired the blazing red color of the crystal he and his team had just discovered. The ancient object shone with powerful flashes, as if something from within it was furiously fighting to come out.

"So this is Fenriar…" he spoke almost in a whisper. "Soon… we will find a way to set you free of your prison."

As his newly reformed team worked around him, installing equipment and taking notes, he looked away from the crystal in favor of gazing at the runes carved through the rocky walls of the chamber they were currently in; after months of search, he was finally here...

He had come a long way since his apparent demise at the mercy of Zygarde's power. Lysandre had made sure his existence had been erased from the planet. No one would go searching for a dead man after all.

With his ideals of eradicating humankind from the faces of the Earth as strong as ever, and knowing his original plan was no longer an option, he had dedicated the past months to re-planning and research. And so, tales of an ancient legend that spoke about Aura wars and sealed away evils had picked his curiosity.

"You really don't know what you are trying to unleash," a voice called behind him.

Coming back to the present, Lysandre turned around and chuckled. "Then we shall find out."

The one he was addressing was a pink talking Pokémon he had stumbled upon while visiting the Orange Archipelago. After a few minutes of conversation, he had judged the Slowking more knowledgeable than any other wise shaman he had encounter during his endeavors, so of course Lysandre made sure to bring it along.

The Pokémon frowned without saying another word, so Lysandre continued. "If the Aura Guardians that sealed Fenriar are as powerful as you described. And the struggle was as great as the legends tell… surely it will be a sight to behold."

"You need to understand," the Slowking started. "The Aura Guardians were protectors of the world. They had good reasons to do what they did. If you free this beast from its prison, you'll be condemning the world to chaos."

"Director, Sir!" The voice of one of his new recruits interrupted before he could give a reply. Unaware of this, the low rank grunt bowed in respect before continuing. "The research team from Cameran Kingdom has just arrived."

Lysandre's eyes glinted with something akin to excitement; his smile widening lightly.

"Very well," he dismissed his follower before turning back to the Slowking. "After you…"

The Pokémon knew better than to refuse.

As they walk out of the chamber, everyone fail to notice a Pikachu with unusual black patterns on its ears hiding back in the shadows and sneaking away…

Once out the rocky chambers, the yellow rodent ran through thick foliage a good distance away from the humans' camp. When it arrived at a clearing, the Pikachu called out to the tree tops above. It waited a few seconds before a Pidgeot answered its call descending to the ground.

A few alerted squeaks later, the flying type nodded in understanding before taking flight away from the island at full speed...

.:oOo:.

Back at the camp just outside the ruins, Xerosic was already waiting with an excited grin that could rival that of a Cheshire Cat. Behind him, two blue flowers in bulb form were encased in two separate containers. Lysandre didn't waste time in asking for a report regarding the expedition's outcome and findings.

"Unfortunately, no one in the kingdom had any information about Aura Guardians living as of today," the scientist began, making the Slowking feel momentary relieved by the news; without an Aura adept, they had no chances of breaking the seal after all.

"You don't look very disappointed," Lysandre observed with a passive tone.

"Doing a bit of research through the kingdom's precious Tree of Beginning, we stumbled upon these unique flowers that seem to only grow around that area," the scientist was fast to continue; his excitement was palpable. "As the legend tells, these flowers are capable of remembering events from the past. Aura Guardians used to be able to see fragments of time through them so they could learn what had transpired in the places where the flowers bloomed."

"That's an interesting concept. But I'm intrigued to know how it will help our cause."

"I'm sure you will find the memory recorded in this flower in particular very interesting," Xerosic mentioned as he nodded at the nearest one. "We can forget about finding that slippery Aura adept from Sinnoh… After all, he's not the only one who has inherited Aura abilities," this picked the Director's curiosity. "We just never noticed his true potential because he seems to not have developed them like his predecessors did…"

"Hm, you speak as if we know this person…"

Xerosic grin widen even more and nodded, before connecting the flower's capsule to a technological contraption on the desk. "Allow me to show you the memory within," he expressed as he turned the device on.

Soon enough, their surroundings were replaced by the ones within the memory, and as the events replayed before them, the Slowking's gasp of recognition went unnoticed. Lysandre's eyes grew wide with surprise, before letting out a hearty laugh of victory. It couldn't be called anything less than poetic irony, he thought. The piece he was missing was exactly one of the people who had contributed to his downfall...

"Do we have his current location?"

"As a matter of fact, yes we do."

"Perfect, prepare one of the airships. I'm heading out myself."

Xerosic's smiled turned malicious.

"This is bad…" the Slowking whispered to himself; a worried frown adorning his features.

.:oOo:.

Far from there, in one of the islands of the Alola Region, two young kids and their Pokémon were taking a quick excursion to the forest.

"Come on, Ash! Let's find the fruit I need, so we can head back in time for school!" Mallow was saying, as her little Bounsweet happily balanced on her shoulder.

"Coming, coming!" Ash answered with a sheepish grin as he left behind a nest of Pokémon he hadn't seen before; Pikachu tagging along with an amused grin. Taking excursions to the forest was always fun and exciting. He always found something new to learn and Rotom was always ready to share his knowledge.

"There is a twenty percent probability of finding the tree before we go too far, bzzt."

"Does that mean if we can't find it within that probability we'll be late to class?" Mallow asked a bit concerned.

"Let's step it up then! A possibility is still a possibility," Ash commented running ahead.

Mallow smiled feeling his enthusiasm contagious and ran to catch up.

The day before, Mallow had commented how her family's restaurant was lacking a certain berry used on most of their desserts recipes. The next stock was not coming for another week so she had placed it upon herself to find some. Figuring she might need a couple of extra hands to carry them back to town, she had requested Ash to accompany her early in the morning before classes started. Of course, Ash was fast to agree.

So here they were in the middle of the humid forest, making their way to a tree that most commonly grew in the deepest parts of it, where hardly any sunlight went through, according to Rotom.

As they went on their way, three individuals shadowed their steps from a safe distance, already plotting their next strategy to get ahold of a certain electric type Pokémon.

"Just the twerp and one twerpette today," Meowth commented in a hush.

"Let's just follow them until they reach the berry tree and then we'll grab both Pikachu and the fruit," Jessie suggested.

"Great idea!" James agreed. "We have yet to get breakfast and I am getting hungry."

With equally gleeful snickers, the three Rocket members continued on their endeavor; that is, until an extra presence made them all stop in their tracks; none of them believing what they were seeing.

"Why do we have to follow the brat around?" A woman with a very extravagant getup and very familiar sunglasses complained to another just a few bushes away. "Wouldn't it be easier to just knock him out and go? It's nothing we haven't done before…"

"Hey! Those ar-mph!"

"Shhh!" Meowth and James were fast to stop Jessie from finishing her loud remark and risking detection. Temporarily forgetting about their plan, they listened in to the two women conversation.

"Stop complaining about it. We were order not to engage until they were further away from the town," the second woman reprimanded. "Besides, the Director himself wants to deal with him personally first."

The three rockets exchanged confused looks.

"So the big carrot hair is alive?" Meowth asked incredulous.

"What would he want with the twerp?" James wondered.

"Maybe is just a vendetta? He and his friends did play an important part on their plan's demise."

"Whatever it is, we should keep an eye on them," Jessie decided as they continued to follow. "They are a threat to Team Rocket's ideals."

Unbeknown to any of the groups, a single eye was following their movements with a worried expression. The little green cell to which it belonged to, camouflaged out of sight as its main cell received the images it had just provided…

.:oOo:.

In the outskirts of Lumiose City, said main cell purred in worry before merging with a few cells on the area and transforming into its canine shape. Without wasting time, it ran towards the location of a certain blue ninja Pokémon.

Squishy had grown fond of the kids he had travelled with. Even if little Bonnie had been the one he had bonded with most, he still cared for all four of them, so when they said goodbye a few months ago, he made sure to get a cell to follow each of the children; that way, he could keep an eye on them. A wise move, Squishy thought as he ran faster. He was starting to wonder if it was possible for Ash to live through a single year without attracting some kind of trouble.

He soon reached a clearing, stopping just before a dark giant root crashed right where he would have been had he not stopped in time. He didn't have to do anything to defend himself though, as two different attacks came from opposite directions and obliterated the dark thorn.

From one side came Grenija, landing skillfully beside him. From the other side, a MegaLucario was just lowering his paws nodding in satisfaction.

"Way to go, Lucario! I can feel our power getting stronger and stronger!"

" _Is this human always so noisy?"_ his partner Z2 asked the Lucario in question from a nearby tree.

Lucario gave an affirmative answer as if he was proud of such statement before joining Korrina in her celebration of victory. It had been a week since the young gym leader and her Lucario had come in search of growth. They could control Mega Evolution neatly now, but they said it was yet to be perfected, and couldn't find a better way to train than helping keeping everyone safe. Squishy wondered if hero complexes was a recurrent trait in humans.

Now with the danger taken care of, Squishy immediately gained their attention. Greninja was the first to notice, walking forward and asking what was wrong.

" _It's your trainer,"_ Squishy said shortly making Greninja tense.

.:oOo:.

Trouble had found said trainer in the shape of a small army of flying ships.

"Unidentified flying objects, bzzt!" the rotom pokedex yelled in excitement. "Scan confirms they are not pokemon, bzzt."

A flash of recognition passed through Ash's eyes the moment people started to descend from them. He shuddered, feeling a flashback coming, followed by a strong chill down his spine, not expecting to see a dead person standing right in front of him.

"A good day for a walk, wouldn't you agree?" a red-haired man, Lysandre, greeted the children as casual as if he had just stumbled upon them on a morning stroll.

Ash tensed looking guarded and ready for battle, not even acknowledging the man's words. Pikachu leaped to the ground in front of his trainer allowing small charges of electricity to spark threateningly through his pouches. Mallow herself was confused but somehow read the tension and kept her guard up with uneasiness creeping up her back.

Lysandre observed them with a calculating gaze before he spoke again.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Ash? But I'm pleased to see you're still doing a marvelous job with your Pokémon," he stated as a way of breaking the ice. "Tell me, has Greninja gotten any stronger?"

"What do you want, Lysandre?" Ash was fast to ask, not fooled by the formalities, yet having half a mind to stop himself from asking how it was possible for the man to even be alive.

The man in question smiled unfazed by the rude tone, and decide to give an answer before the child got impatient and attack without giving any chances of talking some more.

"I merely wish to speak with you," he was acting casual, leading Mallow to wonder how someone that expressed themselves so politely could be so intimidating and menacing looking.

"Speak?" Ash was obviously confused by this, but suspicion won over his curiosity. "If it's another of your 'achieving peace through world destruction' speeches, there's nothing to talk about!"

"Pika!" Pikachu growled his agreement.

"What!? World destruction?" Mallow now knew where the dread feeling overwhelming her came from. Was this guy really that dangerous? What were they supposed to do now? It was obvious they were outnumbered and overpowered. She looked at her friend hoping for an answer and was surprised to see how focused he looked; not a trail of fear in his posture.

"I see you'll continue to decline my offer of peace," Lysandre said as he tossed a Poké Ball, releasing a menacing looking Gyarados from within it. "Though I admire your determination, I'm afraid you have no choice but to come along."

"Get ready, buddy!" Ash alerted Pikachu, receiving an affirmative yell. "Rotom..." he called next in a low whisper.

The sentient device flew nearer in attention, waiting for his assigned trainer to continue.

"I need you to head back to Professor Kukui and let him know what's happening and where we are."

Mallow's eye widen at his request. These people really meant trouble if Ash was being cautious instead of confidently charging ahead against them with no apparent plan.

"Bzzt! Roger!" RotomDex looked just as surprised, but was fast to accept his mission and flew away.

With that taken care of, Ash gave his full attention to the threat in front of them, already sensing the inevitable battle coming...


	2. Battling Against Overwhelming Forces

Ash and Mallow were late. Professor Kukui was just outside of his house, looking towards the road that leaded to the forest in the hopes of finding his charge and student returning from their little expedition. Expecting the hyperactive kid to get easily distracted in his way, he had promised to have breakfast ready upon their return, getting a very excited Ash proclaiming they were going to be back before he knew it. That had been the actual reason for Kukui to mention breakfast in the first place. He had hoped for them to return in time before classes started, but that hadn't been the case...

He was considering leaving a note on the door for them to let them know he was going ahead, when RotomDex came flying at a speed he hadn't seen it doing before. Kukui's smile at seeing it was immediately replaced with a frown at noticing how distressed the sentient pokédex was.

"It's an emergency, btzz!"

"Rotom? Where are Ash and Mallow?"

"There's trouble, btzz! Ash sent me back to let you know, btzz!"

"Trouble?! Are they okay?" Kukui was already stepping out of the porch as he asked Rotom what he meant.

"A group of unknown people surrounded us deep in the forest! They looked ready to fight, btzz!" Rotom flew beside the professor as he was running to show him a picture of said group. Kukui didn't recognize them, but could tell they were bad news only by their appearances.

"Show me the way!"

"Roger, btzz!"

.:oOo:.

"Pikapi!"

Back in the forest, Ash was trying to get up after being thrown off by the power of a hyperbeam that had landed too close for comfort.

"Ash!" Mallow was fast to reach him; helping him up.

"Thanks…"

"I must admit I'm surprised," Lysandre commented. "I didn't expect you to last this long with just your Pikachu against Mega-Gyarados."

Ash frowned at Lysandre; Rowlet had stayed behind at Professor Kukui's house, still sleeping, so he just had Pikachu at the moment. He looked down at the ring in his wrist. That was their only chance now. He nodded with determination at Pikachu, who had been waiting for instructions and nodded back, understanding his trainer's plan.

"Let's give them everything we got, Pikachu!" Ash yelled as he positioned himself in synch with Pikachu's movements.

Mallow stepped back to give them space. Even when she had seen their Z-move before, she still felt awed by their strength. Hope rose through her chest; a small smile gracing her lips as she watched them finish the sequence.

"What is this power?" Lysandre asked in fascination as he watched both trainer and Pokémon irradiating a bright yellow light with synchronized movements.

"Here we go! Gigavolt Havoc!"

Just as Ash yelled the command, Pikachu unleashed a powerful electric attack that hit the expectant Gyarados head-on. The flash coming from it and the consecutive explosion was so strong, everyone, including those with sunglasses had to turn away from the blinding light and the strong wind it produced.

It took a few seconds after the attack was done, for the dust to clear, showing a knocked out Gyarados back to its normal form. Lysandre looked on with a stoic face and returned his Pokémon before turning to face the trainer he had come looking for.

"You and your Pokémon never cease to amaze me, Ash," he smiled with something akin to pride and raised his palm towards him. As if it was a signal, the grunts that surrounded them released their own Pokémon ready for a fight. "It's truly a shame… Such potential wasted in wrong and foolish ideals."

Ash's glare intensified at his words; both kids tensing in worry at the new threat surrounding them. Lysandre seemed a bit different than the last time he had seen him. His eyes were slightly unfocused and his smile didn't seem to fit the rest of his expression. Somehow, he gave the impression of being a lot more dangerous than before.

"I see now, I have underestimated you yet again…" as he said that, his raised hand turned to point ahead. "But as much as I would like to keep testing that strength of yours, I'm afraid we have wasted enough time."

The very moment he finished that sentence, the menacing group ordered their Pokémon different attacks all at once. Mallow gasped in fright, seeing the attacks going straight at them and hugged Bounsweet tightly. Ash and Pikachu on the other hand, ran to stand in front of them, brazing themselves for the impact.

As faith would have it, a sudden cry coming through the trees got their startled attention, before a gust of wind came from behind the kids and placed itself protectively in the way of the attacks.

"Tapu Koko!" Ash was the first to recognize their savior before the impact of the attacks blinded them for a second time...

.:oOo:.

" _Team Flare is still active."_

"No way..." Korrina said in disbelief as she joined the conversation.

" _Are you certain of this?"_ Z2 asked gravely.

" _One of the cells just spotted them going after Ash and alerted me,"_ Squishyexplained _._

"What? Ash? Why him?"

Not waiting for an answer, Greninja closed his eyes in concentration. Squishy didn't have to ask to know what he was attempting to do. Even from far away, the connection to his trainer was as strong as ever. Greninja had learned to control it so he could check on him every now and then. He could establish a connection without disturbing his trainer with his presence and still know how he was doing.

He felt something was wrong immediately. Exhaustion and distressed feelings that were not his own invaded his mind. He knew his trainer enough to understand the level of possible danger that could have triggered those emotions. Even when confronting Team Rocket, while there was a bit of stress, it came accompanied with slight annoyance. But now, he could perceive something he hadn't feel from his trainer since they had been capture and taken to Prism Tower during the crisis: fear.

Greninja allowed himself to make the connection strong enough so he could make his presence known and ask Ash if he was okay; this also allowing him to see through Ash's eyes for few moments. His trainer was fast to acknowledge his presences and looked momentarily away from the battle in favor of looking at the man in front of him; clearly wanting Greninja to know who he was fighting against. Just seeing the crazed smile in the supposedly dead face made the water type understand what had unnerved his trainer so much. Feeling he had seen enough, he bolted without a word.

"Wha-? Where is he going?" Korrina asked in confusion.

" _Korrina,"_ Squishy got the girl's attention. _"We count on you and Lucario while Greninja is away."_

Forgetting their inquiry, Korrina and Lucario straighten their back with pride and saluted.

"Yes, sir!"

"Rwar!"

.:oOo:.

"Pikachu! Reflect the next attacks with Iron Tail!"

Even with its guard up, Tapu Koko had received enough damage to stunt him to the ground. Most attacks had been poison based, so Ash figured their effectiveness had been greater. Trusting his partner to pull through, Ash ran forward towards the fallen Guardian Deity, as Pikachu complied to the instructions with flawless speed and precision in spite of the increasing exhaustion; the result of the counters being loud explosions when the long range attacks hit the surrounding area instead.

"Bounsweet, help Pikachu with Aromatic Mist!" Mallow commanded somewhere behind him.

She might have never trained Bounsweet for actual battles, but she decided they were not going to stay idle and was determined to help Ash and Pikachu with whatever they could. Once her Pokémon provided Pikachu with extra defenses, they took off after Ash who had just kneeled beside Tapu Koko.

"Oh, no! It looks poisoned," Mallow noted.

"Tapu Koko, are you able to get up?" Ash asked the island guardian, noticing it was conscious but weak. "You gotta get out of here. These people are dangerous."

Having faith in Pikachu to keep the attacks at bay for a bit longer, he neglected to keep an eye in his surroundings and the villain syndicate took complete advantage of it. A blurry shadow jumped from the bushes behind them and ran forward. Tapu Koko was the first to notice, and cried out in warning just as the grunt moved to disable the children. Taking it for what it was, Ash acted on instinct, turning around as he stood while pulling Mallow to the ground in time to see their aggressor lashing out. It was too late to do any more than that. The attack connected, and the last thing he registered was a sharp pain on the side of his neck before his sight blackened out.

"Ash!" Mallow hurried to get off the ground at seeing her friend slump forward; the grunt's ready grasp on him being the only thing preventing him from falling face first to the ground.

"Don't bother, sweetie," a woman's voice right next to her made her jump. She hadn't seen her coming either. "Let's keep the dead weight to a minimum, shall we?"

"Pikapi!"

"Kokooh!"

"Now, you two stay put as well," a second woman warned as she stepped closer to her companion, who had adjusted his hold on Ash to carry him over his shoulder. "You wouldn't want to accidentally harm your precious trainer, would you?"

Pikachu hesitated, and that was all they needed. The next set of attacks hit their intended target simultaneously. With a pained cry, the exhausted mouse was thrown a few feet into the air, before crashing against the harsh ground near Mallow's feet.

She froze in horrified disbelief. With no indication of remorse, these people had used Ash's safety as leverage against Pikachu. Trembling in both adrenaline and fear, she kneeled towards Pikachu and cradled him in her arms, not remembering the last time she felt like crying so badly.

"Well done," the Director's voice sounded like thunder through her inner turmoil. "Bring the children over to the ship."

.:oOo:.

" _Authorities of Lumiose City are still working to find the whereabouts of the convict who escaped last week from prison… the ex-member of the criminal organization Team Flare was known to be the science lead of the syndicate, who…"_

"Professor? We have visitors."

Professor Sycamore turned away from the television at the sound of one of his assistants' voice. Right next to her stood Clemont, the young Lumiose City's gym leader and his younger sister Bonnie.

"Hello, Professor!" The girl greeted him brightly. "Can we go see the Pokémon?"

"Sure, Bonnie. You know the way."

She nodded with enthusiasm and ran off.

"Careful, Bonnie! Don't rush!" Clemont warned her. He made to run after her but stopped, turned to the professor and bowed. "Thank you very much for letting us come and visit again. We appreciate it," that said, he went after his bubbly sister.

Sycamore just smiled at the kids antics and with one last worried gaze to the television, he decided to follow them outside.

Their visits had been frequent since they came back from their journey. Clemont had explained how little Bonnie had been feeling down without their friends around, so Sycamore invited them to visit whenever they wanted. The prospect of being able to play with the labs' Pokémon had cheered Bonnie up almost immediately.

"Professor, come quick!" Clemont's alerted voice cut through his musings and he ran outside to see what the emergency was.

What he saw was beyond his expectations. A Greninja had broken through one of the top glasses and was staggering to its feet with the siblings' help. That's when it clicked; that wasn't just any Greninja, it was Ash's.

"Hey, Greninja! Are you okay?" Bonnie was asking in worry.

"What happened?" Sycamore asked as he approached them to check on the Pokémon himself.

"Greninja was coming over from the rooftops when he seemed in pain and crashed against the window," Bonnie explained.

"He doesn't seem to be severely injured," Clemont observed.

Sycamore finished doing a quick check up and nodded. It was true the fall didn't seem to have caused too much damage, and he couldn't see any injury that could be causing the frog-like Pokémon any discomfort, yet Greninja looked dazed and a bit out of it. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind.

"Could it be… you and Ash are still able to connect with each other?"

The implication set in the children's minds and both gasped at the same time, with a new kind of worry filling their insides.

Greninja gave a silent croak of affirmation and Professor Sycamore frowned, asking the children to help him take the water type inside so they could figure out what was going on.

.:oOo:.

Near the road that leaded to the Pokémon School, a certain honey blonde performer was walking with her eyes transfixed in her electronic map.

Now that she thought about it, maybe her decision of coming to Alola without letting anyone but her mother know had been a bit rash.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Serena had been at a Pokémon Center in Hoenn, talking through video call with Aria, who she had kept in contact with. The older girl had told her about a tour she was going to be taking part of, to introduce the showcases to other regions. The idea was to give friendly showcases as a way to promote the competition outside of Kalos. Saying she missed Serena's enthusiasm and determination, she had invited her to take a break from contests so she could come along.

Serena felt excited about the idea, but what truly sealed the deal for her, was the mention of the first region in the tour scheduled, which Aria mischievously had informed her to be Alola.

Serena was thrilled, and her first thought was to contact Ash to let him know, but Aria had stopped her, telling her it would be more romantic if she showed up by surprise, making the younger girl blush in flustered embarrassment.

Serena remembered her friend giggling as if she was enjoying the whole thing. Apparently Aria had taken a personal hobby of plotting ways to make their next reunion memorable.

Back to the present, Serena didn't know if she should have been grateful for her support or blame her for being practically lost. Since she had not tell anyone she was coming, she never asked were to find Ash. Her only option was to wander around through the island, hoping to grasp any clues as to where her childhood friend could be.

"I wonder what could have happen…"

A voice not far from her caught her attention, noticing a group of kids her age walking down the road. Worried frowns were adorning all their faces as they continued their discussion unaware of her presence.

"Maybe they overslept?" the shortest of them was suggesting, not sounding very sure himself.

"Well… I somehow can expect that from Ash, but Professor Kukui would make sure to wake him if that happened," the only other boy of the group, answered with a shrug.

Serena almost felt intimidated by his rough aspect and by how tall he was, but at the mention of her crush, she perked up, wondering if it was wise to interrupt.

"Mallow mentioned they were going to search for berries," a blue-hair girl explained in thought. "Maybe they found so many they need help to carry them back?"

"That's… unlikely, too," the same dark skinned guy dismissed yet another idea. As the other kids deflated, he stopped in his track with a resolute grunt, making the rest of his companions stop in confusion. "That's it! I'll ride on Charizard to Professor Kukui's house and find out what's the hold up."

This seemed to cheer the group back up.

"We'll keep going through the road in case you miss them," a girl in a white dress informed.

Wishing good luck to their retreating friend, they made to continue on their way and Serena took her chance.

"Excuse me. I couldn't help overhearing your conversation," she apologized politely before continuing. "Do you happen to know a boy named Ash?"

The three other kids exchanged curious looks in respond.

.:oOo:.

As he approached Professor Kukui's house, Kiawe spotted him running towards the forest's outskirts with Rotom in the lead. Kiawe asked Charizard to descend just enough for him to be heard, and was surprised to find a sense of urgency in Kukui's expression; definitely not usual on the laid back teacher.

"Professor Kukui! Running late?" he called out.

"Ah, Kiawe!" he said turning towards the boy. "I am actually searching for Ash and Mallow. They went to the forest early this morning but haven't come back. Rotom says they stumbled into trouble!"

"What? What kind of trouble?"

As if to answer his question, an explosion coming from deeper within the forest resounded all the way to their location, startling them into silence.

"I'll go ahead!" Kiawe decided, ordering his Charizard to fly towards the noise.

"Be careful!" Kukui called back as he too entered the forest behind Rotom.


	3. Missing Friends and Meeting New Ones

The consecutive explosions and the occasional fleeing Pokémon made it easy for Kiawe’s Charizard to find the way to their friends’ location. In no time, they sighted a dense cloud of dust rising way above the trees. It was there.

“Let’s go down there, Charizard.”

His Pokémon roared in agreement but, before they could reach the clearing, something else rose from beneath. Three airships of high technology were making their ascension, ready to leave. Kiawe had never seen anything like it. He was no tech expert but even he could tell this technology surpassed anything Sophocles had attempted to create before.

“Kiawe!”

Hearing the call, he turned his attention to one of the ships and froze in place. Inside it, right before the sliding door sealed up, he managed to identify Mallow looking at him almost pleadingly, kneeling right beside a seemingly unconscious Ash; their Pokémon nowhere to be seen.

“Guys!” adrenaline at full, he attempted to give chase, even as the airships continued gaining distances. He gritted his teeth in apprehension, not taking his eyes from the progressively smaller ships, and soon, he was forced to desist when he lost sight of them. He growled in frustration. It was hard to admit it, but he knew Charizard’s speed was nothing against those airships’ turbines.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Within the forest, Rotom had guided Kukui to the clearing where he had last seen his trainer, only to find the area deserted and battered.

“Oh, no…” following Kukui’s sight, he saw it wasn’t as desolated as he initially thought.

“It’s Tapu Koko, btzz!!”

They hurried over to the barely conscious Guardian Pokémon. It didn’t seem to be too injured but Kukui was fast to notice signs of poisoning. Knowing what he had to do, he searched through his belongings for what he needed.

Rotom took the chance to scan the area, hoping to find anyone else, but he looked considerably more depressed once done.

“There are no signs of any lifeform beside us in a radius of a hundred meters, btzz.”

Kukui frowned at the information, but decided not to comment. A few minutes later, the sound of flapping wings got their attention overhead, where Kiawe and his Charizard were descending next to them.

“Tapu koko?” Kiawe asked in surprise.

Kukui nodded. “There are traces of battle all over the place. It seems he tried to help, but…”

Kiawe’s worries were incremented by this. His friends were just kidnaped by a bunch of weird people who seemingly were powerful enough to defeat the guardian of the island.

“Did you find them? Are they…?” Kukui left the question hanging hoping to be wrong in his assumption.

Kiawe clenched his teeth before answering. “They… were taken by whoever those people were… I tried to follow, but they were too fast.”

Hearing this, Tapu Koko made an attempt to get up, but failed.

“Don’t overdo it. You need to rest,” Kukui ordered severely before offering it a berry. “Here, this should take care of the poison.”

As Professor Kukui kept tending to Tapu Koko, Kiawe got lost in thought. He was at loss of what to do. He had never seen those people in his life, nor had he ever heard anything about such a group.

“How are we supposed to find them now?” he finally voiced his question.

“Rotom managed to take a picture of that group,” Kukui mention. “It’s not much, but it’s a clue. Let’s investigate who these people are. Maybe we’ll find where they took them.”

 

.:oOo:.

 

“What did the brat got himself into this time?”

For anyone who would look, they were just a group of grunts being on guard duty right in front of the cells’ doorway. Not even their supposed squad leader suspected of their infiltration. Of course, that wasn’t anything surprising to them. After all, they considered themselves to be masters of disguise, as they had proven to be countless times. That, combined with a bit of luck, had created a golden opportunity to mess with Team Flare’s plans.

“Whatever it is, it’s clear these people need him, so if we release the twerp…”

“Then it’s like we are ruining their whole operation.”

With equal mischievous grins, they waited patiently for the right time to act...

 

.:oOo:.

 

How did they end up like this? As Mallow tried to remember the events that had just transpired, she noticed worriedly how any recollection of it came out blurred and in flashes. This people had just taken them into one of their airships and thrown them in separate cells; their Pokémon being retained in some kind of crystal containers on the farthest wall.

‘At least we are still somehow together…’ Mallow thought as she looked across the room, where a cell identical to the one she was currently occupying, kept her friend out of reach. She glowered. It had been a while since they were drag there by uniformed men and Ash had yet to wake up, which was starting to worry her.

A sigh coming from the crystal containers got her attention, and she finally noticed they weren't the only ones in the room. She blinked at the oddity of having a Slowking for a cellmate, wondering how it could be of any use to these people. Then reconsidered her thoughts when realizing she had been wondering the same thing about herself and her classmate.

It was clear they had some kind of business with Ash, and they had probably taken her along to stop her from alerting anyone. But that didn't explain what they wanted. The uncertainty was unnerving.

“W-what’s going to happen to us?” she wondered out loud.

“Am I correct to assume you're one of the Chosen one’s friends?” a voice asked, starting her. Turning around toward the voice, she only saw the Slowking. “I’m afraid I don't know why they brought you.” Mallow stared. The voice had definitely come from the Slowking… So was it like Meowth? She then realized she hadn't been paying attention and blushed thinking about apologizing, but the Slowking continued before she could. “As for him… they have discovered his ability with Aura. That’s what they want.”

“A-Aura?”

The Slowking made to say something more, but a soft groan coming from the cell on his opposite side made him stop and turn.

Perking up from her kneeling position, Mallow approached as much as the bars allowed her and called Ash’s name. Receiving a groan in response was as relieving as if he had just lucidly answered back. When he started trying to sit up, she tried again.

“Ash, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah…” he answered weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ugh… why does my neck hurt?”

He seemed confused and pretty out of it, but he was nevertheless conscious. Mallow immediately released the air she had been holding and gave him a small smile.

“Do… do you remember what happened?”

Ash made a pause to register the question and then another to try and recall what he had been doing before now… whatever the now was. Then it all came back in a rush. He started in sudden realization and looked around wildly, before scowling in both worry and frustration. He had let his guard down again… he had been so focus on Tapu Koko’s health that he had given the bad guys the opportunity to strike… and now they had been captured by them… how could he’d been so careless?

“Are you feeling sick?” Mallow’s question pulled him out of his gloom thoughts and he shook his head as if to clear it.

There was no time to dwell in self-reproach. Right now he had to focus on more important things, like how to get out of there.  

“Sorry, I’m fine.”

With another quick look around he finally noticed the capsule containers. Bounsweet looked scared but unharmed. Pikachu was a different story. He was full of dirt and injuries, and seemed to have fallen into a restless sleep. Ash stood in a rush and ran forward, grabbing the cell’s bars for support.

“Pikachu! Are you okay, buddy?!” the sudden movement had gotten him dizzy; black dots filling his vision for a second; and he staggered in place.

“Wait, Ash! Don’t stand so suddenly!”

He listened for once and slide back down to a sitting position.

“You should not worry. Pikachu is just tired. He should wake up pretty soon.”

“...” he stared. “Ah! It’s you!!”

“It is nice to see you again, Ash,” the Slowking nodded. “Though, I would have preferred it to be in different circumstances.”

“You know each other?”

“Why yes. Back when the planet was suffering a weather catastrophe, he helped Lugia save the world by doing his role as the chosen of a prophecy.”

“For real? That sounds amazing, Ash!” Mallow’s said excitedly. “I didn’t know you saved the world once!”

“I- yeah…” he replied in embarrassment. “But I didn’t do much, really. It was a collective effort from all my friends.”

“It’s true that your Pokémon help you to fulfill your role, but you must not forget you are still the Chosen one.”

“B-But that is solved now, right? You can stop calling me that.”

“The title still holds true, for as long as the legend exist,” the Slowking explained patiently. “It is written that you will be the one to stop any calamity that may befall this Earth.”

“A-Any?”

“Ash will?”

“Well, of course! It is Ash's name the one written in the prophecy. And I’m sure you have been doing a splendid job so far, if the news coming from migrating Pokémon are anything to go by.”

Mallow was bewildered and a bit excited. By the way this Slowking was talking about him, it seemed like Ash was a very important person. She wondered what other things he had done in the past to gain the talking Pokémon's trust.

“Amazing!”

“I'm really nothing special…” Ash responded weakly. He was progressively looking more uncomfortable as the Slowking continued, but by then he let out a sigh of resignation and whispered. “I’m still wondering why my mom didn’t name me something else…”

Mallow blinked. She couldn't quite understand, but she somehow felt sympathy seeing his dejected look.

“So… you’ve been chosen by a prophecy that has your name written on it?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Ash deadpanned.

“Then, I wonder... What would happen if you change your name?”

It was Ash’s turn to blink. “Oh… I never thought of that.”

“Don’t you ever consider it!!” Both kids flinched at the outburst. “The fate of the planet is not something to play with!”

“I-I won’t! I promise!” the Slowking looked so alarmed, Ash honestly panicked.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean any harm by that!” Mallow too looked repentant.

The moment the Slowking huffed and nodded seemingly satisfied, the children deflated and sighed in relief.

 

.:oOo:.

 

“So you are from Kalos?”

“That’s right,” Serena smiled kindly. She had just explained to them how she and Ash knew each other.

“That’s so far away…” Lana commented getting lost in thought.

“I read about the Kalos Region once,” Lillie commented. “Kalos is known for its vast artistic culture, and their colorful showcases using fashionable designs.”

Serena nodded in confirmation. “That is actually why I’m here right now,” she explained. “You see, I am a performer myself. We are on a tour to promote showcases to other regions.”

“Wow! I would like to see one of those,” Lana said excitedly.

“Then why not come together?” Serena suggested. Getting confused looks, she elaborated. “I was hoping to find Ash so I could say hi and then invite him to the showcase for old time’s sake. And since you all are friends with him, I thought it would be a lot more fun that way.”

“That does sound like a great idea,” Lillie agreed. “Right, Sophocles?”

The smaller boy flinched at hearing his name and nodded. He had been weirdly silent since Serena joined them on their walk to Professor Kukui’s house. Lillie understood. It might not have look like it, but he was a shy person by nature, so despite her kindness, the honey blonde’s presence was overwhelming his ability to speak. She smiled in amusement, and didn’t push it. Boy would be boys, she thought.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Right on their destination a few minutes away, Kukui had just entered the house with Rotom-Dex and Tapu Koko following close behind; Kiawe being last after dismounting Charizard. Never in his life had he imagine himself in such a bizarre scene.

Rockruff’s barking didn’t let him dwell in those thoughts for too long though, as the dog Pokémon signaled him to follow him all the way to the living room, where Rowlet was still sleeping on the couch, just as he had left him. Figuring that wasn’t what Rockruff was barking about, he did a quick scan to the room until he finally heard the distinctive sound of his video-caller ringing.

He answered the call a bit forceful hoping to get it over with soon, but was surprised when seeing Professor Sycamore’s face showing up, alongside a couple of kids and a frog-like Pokémon who Rotom immediately identified as Greninja.

“Professor Kukui, am I right?” Professor Sycamore asked with urgency. “We’ve been trying to reach you.”

“Ne! Is Ash there with you?” The youngest of the group asked anxiously; keeping a small rodent Pokémon close to her chest in a fierce hug.

“Bonnie, don’t interrupt like that!” the second kid; apparently the older brother; scowled his younger sister.

“But Clemont!”

“I know you are worried, but you need to let the professor talk.”

Professor Sycamore took the opportunity to explain the reason of the call. “I was told a young trainer named Ash was staying with you.”

“That’s right,” Kukui confirmed with a nod. “But I’m afraid he… is not here at the moment.”

The hesitation in his voice didn’t go unnoticed by the other researcher and he looked at the Greninja beside him before addressing Kukui again.

“Something happened, am I right?”

Kukui and Kiawe were startled by his question, starting to understand that their call right after what had happened in the forest was not a bad timed coincidence. Suspecting the group would know the answers to his own questions, Kukui nodded in confirmation.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Far on a distant land, a bipedal Pokémon watched his surroundings over the top of a mountain. He sometimes came here seeking solitude to meditate and reflect on the meaning of existence and the purposes of life. It had turned into a frequent habit of him, which made it easier for his friend to find his location.

Feeling the new presence approaching, he turned around and greeted the flying Pokémon that was descending just beside him.

 _“What is it, Pidgeot?”_ he telepathically asked with a cool and calm voice. Without missing a beat, the Pidgeot answered with alerted mannerisms. _“Intruders, you say? We should head back to the island immediately.”_


	4. Bonds Through the Distance

The group in Lumiose lab gasped collectively the moment Rotom showed the photo of the people that had ambushed their missing friend in the forest. The risen tension was palpable and their disbelief faces were mirrors of each other.

“H-How?” Clemont managed to murmur; his face paling considerably at the sight of a man that all of Kalos had thought dead.

“So, it is them after all…” Professor Sycamore commented seriously.

“Y-You knew, Professor?”

“I suspected Lysandre was still alive when the news reported one of Team Flare admins had broken out from prison. By the look of it, he had help.”

“Prison? So we are dealing with convicted criminals,” Kiawe spoke up for the first time.

“I am afraid it’s graver than that,” Sycamore explained, causing the Alola residents to frown in dread. “This is a crime syndicate that almost succeeded in destroying the world; all because of farfetched ideals of renovation.”

“De-Destroying the world, bzzt!?” Rotom exclaimed, flying around the room in alarm.

“So, why go after two young trainers?” Kukui asked, managing to keep his cool just barely. It was all too overwhelming, and the fear for his students’ wellbeing incrementing by every explanation wasn’t helping.

“That is something I can’t tell for sure,” Sycamore looked thoughtful.

“Is it because we helped stop him?” Bonnie asked receiving a negative shake of the head from the Professor.

“Even if Ash took a key part in their organization’s downfall, vengeance is not Lysandre’s style.”

“And if vengeance was the motivation, I believe they would have targeted a lot more people,” Clemont contributed.

Greninja looked down in thought, wondering if he should try to tell them about Lysandre’s particular interest in Ash and himself during the crisis fiasco. Ash had never told his friends about the whole team getting captured, or how Lysandre had attempted to control their bond. There was no reason to get them worried after all, and by the time everything was solved, there was just no point in letting them know about it. But now, as they kept trying to find a logical explanation, he questioned that decision.

The only reason keeping him quiet was the fact that he was still there. If their bond was what Lysandre was after, the man would have noticed they were not together, and surely he would have been targeted too.

A sniffing sound coming right beside him got his attention back to the conversation. Looking down, he found little Bonnie barely holding in tears.

“Then, why…?”

Something seemed to crack inside Kiawe at this; memories of his own little sister coming forward. “I’m going out,” he declared already walking away.

“Wait, Kiawe!” Kukui called. “We don’t even know where these people could have taken them. I know you want to find them quick, but acting rash might just set us back.”

That seemed to make him stop in his track, but he didn’t turn around, too preoccupied trying to control his frustration at his obvious impotence.

Greninja observed him with a sense of understanding. A few months ago, he would have done the same and no words would have stopped him from trying to find his trainer even if he had no leads.  But Greninja had learned. Even if the anxiousness was unbearable, he knew he had to wait until a plan was formed. In the meantime, he would continue to try and reach his trainer through their bond.

 

.:oOo:.

 

It wasn’t long before Pikachu woke up, and Ash felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He looked considerably more cheerful despite the current situation and Mallow couldn’t help taking comfort in that fact. There was almost a sense of normality aided by the fact that nobody had come to check up on them yet.    

“You sure you are feeling okay, buddy?”

“Pika!”

Even Pikachu looked determined despite the obvious strain his body had taken after the unfair battle. Though, that determination deflated a bit after attempting to break free of the crystallized capsule with a few attacks, and failing. The capsule stubbornly refused to even crack, making them realize it was not a normal type of crystal.

“What do we do now?” Mallow asked out loud.

“There must be another way for you to escape,” the Slowking insisted, telling them they needed to stop the organization before they triggered the end of the world… again.

“How do we stop them?” Ash was fast to ask.

The answer he received was not what he was expecting.

“As long as you stay away from them, you will already be delaying their plans.”

Both kids and Pokémon looked surprised and confused at the revelation.

“W-what do you mean?” Mallow asked with apprehension. “What do they need Ash for?”

The Slowking seemed to consider his answered for a few seconds before nodding.

“Have you ever heard of the Legendary Fenriar?” seeing he had their complete attention, he continued. “Fenriar is known to be a dark beast so powerful, it had threatened the balance of life after it was consumed by rage and hatred. Legends are unclear at the reason of its anger, but whatever the reason, it needed to be stopped. So a group of Aura Guardians had to act. They sealed it away in hopes to give it time to calm down. It is believed to be sealed up to this day, hidden in a forgotten island where no human has stepped on in centuries.”

“Is that what Team Flare is after?” Ash asked. “They want to release Fenriar so it can destroy everything?”

The Slowking just nodded in confirmation.

So it was just like with Zygarde, the difference was that they were going after a different Pokémon to do their binding this time. Yet, Ash was still puzzled as to why they needed him to accomplish their goal. Before he could voice his question however, Ash felt a very familiar presence in his mind and reached out with excited happiness; his laughter gaining the curious attention of the others.

“It’s Greninja!” Ash informed Pikachu, who perked up immediately.

Mallow, Boansweet and the Slowking blinked in confusion, opting to stall any questions and wait quietly at seeing Ash closing his eyes as if in concentration.

The connection with his water-type friend was stronger than he had felt it in months, and it was easy to sense the concerned question forming from the Pokémon’s side. He was fast to reassure him by telling him everyone was okay despite the circumstances.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Back in Kalos, Greninja’s excited croak gained everyone’s attention, receiving curious looks from both groups through the video call. Clemont’s eyes widen in realization and he leaned forward in anticipation.

“Is it Ash? Did you manage to reconnect your bond with him?”

At the Pokémon’s affirmative nod, Professor Sycamore smiled broadly. “Marvelous! Can you tell how everyone is?”

Greninja nodded again looking relief. Taking it as a good signal Bonnie laughed. “Hey, hey, Greninja! Tell Ash I say hi!”

“So… what’s this about a bond?” Kukui asked, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck.

Professor Sycamore had the grace to look embarrassed before addressing Kukui’s question.

“I’m sorry, we failed to do proper introductions. This here is Ash’s Greninja,” he began, already managing to get the Alolan residents complete attention. Even Tapu Koko had levitated nearer to them and Kiawe had looked back at the screen in curiosity. Professor Sycamore started explaining how Ash and Greninja had met since the frog-like Pokémon was a Froakie, and Professor Kukui took note of how well taken care of he looked. Not only that, he could tell by just looking at it how strong this Pokémon was.

“As they trained together, they developed a strong bond that allowed them to share their senses to one another.”

“Their senses?”

Clemont was the one to nod before elaborating. “There were times during battles when Ash would be able to feel what Greninja was feeling.”

“Greninja is also able to transform into Ash-Greninja when they are together, and see through each other’s eyes,” Bonnie complemented. “It’s really amazing!”

“Ash-Greninja…?” Kiawe was looking progressively more confused. Where they supposed to know what that meant?

“It does sound incredible,” Kukui admitted. No wonder Ash and Pikachu had grasped the concept of Z-Moves as easy as if they had known about them all their lives. It was clear, Ash was able to bond with his Pokémon in deep levels; Kukui had already noticed this quality about him just by observing his interactions with any Pokémon he encountered, but this new revelation really put things into perspective.

“Greninja, can you figure out where they are?” Clemont felt his hope rising.

The Pokémon tilted his head as he asked Clemont’s question through the connection.

 

.:oOo:.

 

“Hmm… we are still inside one of Team Flare’s ships right?” Ash asked his companions. Receiving a nod from Slowking, he sighed. “So we are still moving… Any idea where they are taking us?”

“It is an island only known in legends… It lacks a name or even a location in global maps,” the Slowking frowned. “I am actually surprised these people had managed to even find it by just researching old history.”

Everyone deflated by the news. At this rate, they weren’t getting external help any time soon.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Greninja’s negative answer was met with puzzled looks from the humans. The other Pokémon disappointed reactions being the only clue to the meaning of his words.

“Pukokoo.”

“Ninja,” a nod.

“I wonder what they are talking about…” commented Bonnie.

“Could you translate, Rotom?” Kukui requested. Receiving a confused look, he explained. “Well, you are a Pokedex, but you are still a Pokémon.”

Rotom yelled in dawning realization. “That is right! Don’t worry, Professor! I’ll translate every word flawlessly, bzzt!”

Not surprised by Rotom’s antics, Kukui just smirked back as Rotom observed the Pokémon conversation for a few moments before explaining.

“Greninja said there are still on their way to their destination, which is an unmarked island, bzzt,” Rotom translated showing a frowning smiley in his screen. “And Tapu Koko suggested to stay alert in case there was another way we could figure out their location.”

Clemont started with a new idea forming. “Say, did any of you managed to see how fast the airships were going?”

Kiawe blinked at the random question, and gave an approximate number based on his own Charizard’s speed.

“Great! Greninja, please let me know when they have arrive,” Clemont requested as he pulled out a device and started tinkering with it.

“I see!” It just took a quick look at Clemont’s device for Professor Sycamore to understand his plan. “Even if we don’t know their location, we can calculate a search radius based on the time it takes them to arrive and the direction they took.”

“That’s actually a very nice idea,” Professor Kukui praised with a smile. “It might not be that accurate, but it increases our chance at finding the mysterious island by a lot.”

“Also, Greninja says he could sense Ash’s presence better at a closer distance, bzzt,” Rotom continued translating.

 

 

.:oOo:.

 

Back at the ship, the group went on high alert at the noise of the only door in the room sliding open. Then, came a group of low rank grunts that smirked at them smugly. Ash glared at them with gritted teeth as the shorter of them showed keychain full of cards.

“Oh, where did you get those from?” one of them asked, sounding honestly surprised.

“Just found ‘em on someone’s belt and decided to take it,” his shorter companion answered before looking at the prisoners. “Aren’t cha’ lucky, twerps?”

The familiar name calling got Ash to lose the glare in favor of looking confused.

“Just hurry up and open the cells, Meowth,” the female one chastised.

“Meowth?” now that Mallow thought about it, these three looked kind of familiar.

 

 

.:oOo:.

 

Just as Greninja had let them know of the new development, a sudden flash of electricity passed through Tapu Koko’s shield and he perked up with an exited cry. It had tried to feel Pikachu’s signal a couple of times, but something had been interfering with the signal. That was part of the reason why it hadn’t bolted after the ships once it was healed, instead deciding to follow the Professor.

The electric signal came back full force as if whatever was in the way had vanished. Confident in being able to follow it, Tapu Koko was fast to let them know about it.

“Could you guide me to them?” Kiawe asked sounding both hopeful and a bit desperate.

The deity guardian seemed to measure the young human before nodding again, causing him to smile for the first time since the whole thing started. “Thanks.”

“Hold on! We need to alert officer Jenny of this!”

“We can’t waste more time, Professor,” Kiawe retorted. “It’s better if we split.”

That said, he bolted to the door with Tapu Koko following close by. Professor Kukui called after them again, but this time they didn’t listen and he could only place a hand over his head with a resigned sigh.

“We are going too!” Clemont voice regained his attention towards the video caller. The boy had been tampering with the weird looking device in his hands since he had taken it out, and now he was looking at it with a victorious grin.

“Yeah! We are going to help Ash!” little Bonnie looked as, if not more, resolute than her brother. Beside them Greninja looked ready to go.

“But how…?”

“I just thought we could still calculate the coordinates of their current location and then just follow Greninja the rest of the way,” he explained, revealing the device to be some kind of radar.

“That’s my big brother!”

“Even if you take the next flight it is still quite a few hours to Alola,” Sycamore pointed out.

That didn’t deter Clemont’s enthusiasm. He smiled and let the light’s reflection catch his glasses as he chuckled.

“Don’t worry, Professor. We have other means of transportation.”

“We do?” Bonnie asked excited.

“The future is now thanks to science!” Clemont proclaimed his catchphrase with a smug expression.

.:oOo:.

 

“Why are you helping us?” Mallow asked the grunts in front of them, still feeling a bit wary even though they were out of the cells and Bounsweet was back in her arms.

Before they could answer however, a voice coming from the hall made them all freeze.

“We are about to land, all of you to your posts! You two follow me!”

“Yes ma’am!”

Seconds later, the door reopened and one of Team Flare’s admins accompanied by two other grunts enter the room before frowning suspiciously at the sight.

“What is the meaning of this?” it was Maple, the blue-haired scientist.

“Uh-oh. We’re busted.”

With equal smirks, the grunt trio threw their disguises away, revealing very familiar white uniforms.

“Prepare for trouble!”

“And make that dou-”

“Weavile, use Ice Beam!” a Poké Ball was released and the attack came soon after.

Thanks to fast reflexes, it barely missed them all, causing the back wall to freeze instead.

“How rude! We were not done yet!” Jessie exclaimed in indignation. “Mimikyu, give them a lesson!”

“Pikachu, let’s help!” Pikachu jumped from Ash’s shoulder reading an attack... and promptly avoided a Shadow Ball coming from Jessie’s Pokémon. The stray attack exploded against the frozen wall causing the weaken metal to bend and break leaving a big hole where it once was.

“Mimikyu, where are you aiming at? Weavile is in front of you!” Jessie shouted exasperated.

“Khk kgh…”

“There you go again with the creepy comments!” Meowth yelled grabbing his ears in an attempt to block Mimikyu’s words.

“I say we go for plan ‘B’,” James suggested.

Receiving confused glances in return, he decided to elaborate with actions, grabbing Ash and Mallow by their wrists and backing down towards the new gap in the wall.

“Hey! What-?”

“Jump!”

“Wait! Aren’t we still on the air?!” was Mallow’s last sentence before she was pulled out of safe ground with a strangled cry; their collective yells being drowned by the sound of air currents and the increasing distance.

“Pikapi!” Pikachu didn’t even think twice, grabbing the Slowking by the back of his ruff and jumping after them.  

“Wait for us!” Meowth jumped next.

“You got lucky!” Jessie declared pointing her finger at the shocked admin, as she returned Mimikyu before running and jumping too.

“Tch!” getting out of her shock, Maple grabbed her radio and reported the situation. Their target had escaped the ship, but there was no way they were going to let him escape the island…

.:oOo:.

 Greninja croaked with a deadpan expression.

“Jumped?” Rotom translation came out as a question.

“What?”

Greninja just shrugged in almost indifference, deciding not to elaborate to avoid unnecessary panic. He was already used to his trainer’s own antics and knew this time was not much different; even if he hadn’t been the one actively throwing himself to his possible doom…

…

He shook his head. They would be fine.  


	5. Hide and Seek

Clemont was a very interesting kid, Kukui decided. The shyness that came by default with any technologically brilliant mind, –if Sophocles was anything to go by– seemed to disappear the moment they had to show off and explain their newest inventions.

Proclaiming he had created it for situations precisely like the one they were in at the moment, Clemont presented to them the “Teleporter-To-Ash’s-Location-Device”; which apparently did just that…

The Professor had to give credit when credit was due; not counting the long and ridiculous name he had given the thing, Clemont came out to him as a very resourceful person.

“With the combination of my ‘Calculate-Coordinates-For-Tracking-Device’–”

“Wow, you are on a roll today…” Bonnie deadpanned.

“–and my tracking device, we will be there in no time!” Clemont finished as if Bonnie hadn’t commented.

“Awesome!” Rotom mirrored Ash’s most recent expression; taking the chance to take as many photos as he could to the screen.

“What are we waiting for?” Bonnie exclaimed with a smile, before running out of view. Nodding his agreement, Greninja followed. “Let’s go, brother!”

“Wait for me!”

“Hold on, Clemont,” Professor Sycamore managed to stop him before he went too far. “We don’t know how strong Team Flare will be this time. You shouldn’t be going alone.”

To Professor Kukui’s surprise, Clemont’s expression steeled before he answered.

“I’m sorry, Professor, but I’m not going to do nothing when I know Ash could use my help,” he declared. “Besides, once we find him I’ll make sure to send the exact coordinates of our location so you can send help.”

Professor Sycamore deflated in resignation, before allowing him to continue on his way. Definitely an interesting kid…

_“What?! Who said you could come?”_

_“Ash is also my friend! So I’m going whether you like it or not!”_

The suddenly loud voices coming from just outside his house distracted Professor Kukui from his musings. Deciding it was better to deal with whatever problem was waiting for him at his porch, he ended the call with the promise of keeping in contact with Professor Sycamore should there be any new development, and walked to the front door with Rotom following close by.

As he opened it and walked out, he encountered another bizarre scene. The rest of his students were standing nearby choosing to stay quiet and observe as Kiawe and another girl he had never seen bicker about going off to help Ash.

He wasn’t sure how it had started, but Kukui guessed Kiawe must have said something out loud that had alerted the other kids. And now he was stuck trying to convince the new girl of how dangerous it could be to go with him, while she stood her ground, not taking a ‘no’ for an answer. As this was happening, Tapu Koko waited idly, just levitating beside the other three kids.

Finally, Kiawe exploded.

“Ghraa! I can’t waste any more time!” he yelled exasperated. Seeing the girl hadn’t even flinched, he sighed. “Fine! You can come… but I’m not going to be babysitting you!”

“I don’t need babysitting, anyway! I can take care of myself!”

Seeing that burning determination in her eyes, reminiscent of his recently missing charge, Kukui didn’t doubt her words for even a second. ‘Ash really knows how to pick them,’ he thought.

“Let’s just go,” Kiawe told her as he walk towards his waiting Charizard. “This way.”

She nodded satisfied but with a very serious expression and climbed on Charizard just behind his student.

“I’ll go too!” Rotom announced all fired up, as he flew all the way to land in the hands of the new girl. “Hi! Nice to meet you! I am RotomDex, btzz!”

“H-Hello,” she said unsure, blinking at the sentient Pokédex in confusion.

“We’ll get introduction later, let’s move!” Kiawe commanded.

Taking it as a green light signal, Tapu Koko levitated far from the ground, checking once to make sure he was being followed, and speeded off into the distance; Charizard keeping up without trouble.

“What is going on, Professor?” Lillie’s question made him turn away from the retreating shapes to face the rest of his students. “We heard Kiawe telling Tapu Koko they need to hurry and save Ash and Mallow from a ‘Team Flare’ group.”

“I-It’s probably nothing serious,” Sophocles mentioned in nervousness, as if he was trying to convince himself of his own words. “Maybe just another group of bullies picking fights…”

“I’m still worried. Serena looked scared when she heard the name,” Lana commented.

“And I don’t think Tapu Koko would have gotten involved if it wasn’t serious…” Lillie thought out loud.

The three of them then looked at Professor Kukui with questioning faces, as if expecting him to explain to them the situation like he always did when they didn’t understand something.

For his part, he felt quite reluctant to drop the news on them and get them all worried, but he knew it was unavoidable. With a resigned sigh he told them to follow him to the Station, in search of Officer Jenny so he could explain on the way.

 

.:oOo:.

 

“I am very sorry, Director,” Maple bowed her head after she finished her report.

Lysandre accepted her apology with a nod before speaking. “They may have escaped the ship, but they don’t have any means of getting off this island. Get Celosia and form two search teams to explore the surrounding area of where you saw them drop.”

“Yes, sir.”

With Maple dismissed and on her way, Lysander turned around to his second in command. “How is the energy shield coming?”

“Almost ready,” Xerosic informed. “We are in the process of calculating the total radius of the island so we can generate a big enough dome. With it, not only will this prevent any ways of escaping; soon, neither will intruders be able to pass.”

“And Fenriar?”

“The shield should be strong enough to contain it, should our attempts at controlling it fail.”

“Good.”

 

.:oOo:.

 

It had been a silent trip through the ocean so far, but it was far from relaxing. Kiawe kept thinking about the information he had just gotten regarding the group they were confronting. He didn’t doubt his ability to fight against them, nor did backing down ever crossed his mind, but he was still uneasy. He could already tell they weren’t at all like the Team Skull he was so used to dealing with; especially if they had managed to take down Tapu Koko. Then, there was the unanswered question of why they had gone after Ash specifically. And if they didn’t need Mallow, why take her too?

Deciding he was not going to gain anything by worrying, he turned over his shoulder to check on his passenger. Her wary and unfocused expression said it all. He frowned.

“So,” Kiawe called her attention. “Have you known Ash for a long time?”

Getting out of her trance, Serena processed the question and nodded. “Something like that. We met each other when we were kids at a summer camp back in Kanto.”

“Oh! You are what they call, childhood friends, bzzt!” Rotom interjected.

She smiled “I think so, yeah. But we didn't see each other again until he came to Kalos to compete in the League.”

“So he has already competed in a League before?” That surely would have explained a few things.

Serena nodded again as she thought her answer. “It wasn't his first either. He mentioned having competed in other Regions before then.”

“That's surprising… I wouldn't have expected someone with so much experience in the field to be so interested in going to school.”

“So he started going to school here?” Serena whispered more to herself.

“He must not have been well prepared for the leagues if he felt the necessity to study more,” Kiawe mused.

Serena suddenly felt very irritated on behalf of her crush. “There is nothing wrong with wanting to keep learning to get stronger!” She yelled making Kiawe and Rotom to almost fall in surprise. “And if you MUST know… Ash got all the way to the finals and won second place in the Kalos league.”

“Really?”

“Yes! And it was a very closed battle too!” she finished with a huff.

“Huh…” Kiawe didn’t comment, but Serena noticed he was smiling.

“Awesome! Are there any recordings, bzzt? I must ask him about it when we find him!”

Serena’s annoyance deflated immediately. “I’m guessing he never mentioned any of that, did he?”

Kiawe shook his head as an answer. “Never asked either.”

“... Yeah, he does that,” she looked a lot more subdued all of a sudden.

“He does seem to be a ‘live in the moment’ kind of guy,” Kiawe admitted.

Serena nodded her agreement. “I guess you're right…”

They were silent for a few moments in which Kiawe took in what she had said and was suddenly reminded of her unyielding stubbornness at Kukui’s house.

“Ash must be really is important to you, huh?” he commented casually.

“Wh-what are you-? I mean- of course he is! We are friends! A-and we traveled together for so long! You can't help but care, right? I mean we even had that last goodbye k-” she stopped realizing she was rambling now. Rotom looked expectant, like he wanted her to continue, while Kiawe just looked confused. She sighed to regain her bearings and tried again. “It’s just… He is always so rash and rarely thinks of his own safety; if ever; I can't help but worry.”

Kiawe nod in understanding. “...Well, he is very resilient too so, I’m sure he'll be fine. And Mallow is with him, so she'll make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble.”

 

.:oOo:.

 

Mallow had been sure they were all going to die. Nobody drops from such a height and lives to talk about it. She must have entered in shock, because she couldn’t remember how they ended up in the ground alive and complete, with nothing more than scratches from going through the trees in their way down. Something had slowed their fall halfway through the branches, but she couldn’t figure out what.

“That w– Psychic, r–ght? Thanks, Slowking…”

That voice was Ash’s; she barely noticed. Her ears were still ringing, making it hard to catch the meaning of the words spoken.

“So you can do more than just speak,” Jessie was saying.

“Y’ah I must admit it wus a nice change from the usual,” Meowth commented.

With her hearing considerably better, and her breathing under control, Mallow took a deep breath in an attempt to get ahold of her scrambling thoughts. She had never gone through something like this in her entire life, and had to admit she felt overwhelmed by it all; from their kidnapping, to their daring escape from captivity.

“We should hide somewhere before those guys come down looking for us,” suggested James.

With no objections, they followed through that plan, managing to find a cave just beneath a small waterfall, not too far from where they had started. By the time they stumble inside and slumped on the rocky ground with sighs of relief, Mallow had regained her composure; even if she still felt scared. 

She looked around to check how everyone else was baring. Pikachu was right beside her, chatting amiably with her Bounsweet; by his gentle gestures she figured he was trying to keep her Pokémon calm. Farther away, the trio of Rockets were surveilling the cave with suspicion on their faces, as if they had expected something to jump out of the shadowy but obviously vacant spaces. Slowking seem content to just watch the water fall from the cave’s entrance.

Finally, she turned to Ash, and was surprised to find him as calm as he had ever was, if not more so considering how serious he had been the past few hours. Mallow had to do a double take at the rare sight. She would have never imagined such a change in his usually carefree demeanor.

“Are you feeling okay?” She decided to ask.

He seemed startled by the sound of her voice but smiled her way as he registered the question.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Oh, give me break, twerp!” Jessie interrupted a bit irritated. “You are obviously not okay.”

Ash was stunted into silence by her outburst, not quite getting where she was going with that.

“Jessie?” James looked at his partner in confusion.

“You’ve been _finally_ acting your age for the first time in who knows how long since you got to this region,” she continued, earning an indignant protest from the kid she was addressing; which was kindly ignored. “Then this Lysandre guy comes back from the death and starts plotting _another_ end of the world.”

Meowth seemed to be the one to catch up with her thoughts.

“That's right! Don't tell us you don't feel at least a bit bothered by this.”

As they waited for an answer, Mallow just watched in silence starting to wonder if this situation was actually somehow common for Ash. He had lower his gaze from view letting the silence drawl for a few more seconds before he sighed in defeat.

“Of course I’m worried,” he admitted with his head still low. “Lysandre is a very dangerous person, and I’ve seen how far he would go to get what he wants,” he then turned back up with a steeled expression. “But that's exactly why we can't stop to complain about it. We have to be strong enough to stop him before it's too late.”

Truth was, since he had arrived at the Islands, he had been taking the whole experience as a nice refreshing break from his previous adventure. Though he didn’t openly admit it, what had happened in Kalos was kind of a big deal that he had yet to get into terms with. Alola had sounded like the perfect opportunity to just relax and have a peaceful yet no less exciting adventure for once. No end of the world or weird prophecies involved. But as recent events were kind enough to point out, he was just fooling himself.

The villain trio shared a look before looking resigned themselves.

“So what's the plan now?” James asked.

“Wait. You are sticking around to help?” Mallow asked in bewilderment.

“Don't get us wrong,” Jessie was next to speak. “We are doing this for our boss own sake.”

Mallow still looked a bit confused but Ash was grinning brightly at them.

Slowking chose that moment to approach and bowed apologetically.

“I must apologize in behalf of such a needy world. I understand how much of a burden this must be to someone so young such as yourself, but I am grateful that you are still willing to help out.”

Letting himself be a kid for just another moment, Ash pouted in irritation at their current situation and whined his dislike for the whole thing; flailing his arms around in exasperation, before standing up all fired up, proclaiming he was going to put an end to the bad guy’s plans so he could go back to his pacific vacation feeling life in Alola.

“I thought he wanted to stop the end of the world...” James commented in confusion.

“Hey twerp, I think ya’re using the whong motivation this time...” Meowth pointed out before murmuring. “Not that I know what motivation ya used other times…”

“Other? Just how many times had you been in this situation?” Mallow deadpans.

“Whatever the motivation, just make sure it works. We have our jobs at stake here,” Jessie noted.

“Yeah, we are counting on you, twerp!” James agrees.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, a psychic Pokémon and his flying type companion soar through the clouds at high speed. The sound of screaming and a sudden splash caught their attention below, finding three individuals just breaking through the water just a bit ahead. They slowed down to get a better grasp of the situation, and managed to hear them better.

“Clemoont!!” a small child whined as she was assisted by a frog-like Pokémon to stay afloat.

“Huh… I wonder what went wrong this time…” the bigger human seem to be tinkering with a contraption in his hands, while being supported over the water by the same Pokémon, which only action was to spit water in a pitiful imitation of a fountain.

Before the psychic could decide whether to get involved or not, the trio disappeared in a flash of light...  

_“Humans never cease to confuse me…”_


	6. Re-encounters

"So, how long are you staying home?" a certain redhead was asking her longtime friend.

"Just for a week. After that I'll go back to Johto," he replied. "Your gym was on my way, so I came to see how things were."

"Well, not bad," she shrugged. "My sisters have a lot to learn about taking on challenges, but they are getting there…" she finished with a huff.

"You don't sound very convinced," he said amused.

Before anything else could be said, a bright flash over the gym's water arena blinded them for a second before three individual made their appearance, yelled in surprise, and fell in the water splashing everything around, including them too.

"Ugh! I'm soaking wet again!" a little blond girl exclaimed, just as a frog like Pokémon was pulling her over the water.

"This… doesn't look like the right place…" an older boy commented as he looked around.

"I bet we are even farther away from where we need to go than the last time," the girl pouted, hugging the small yellow satchel she was carrying.

The Pokémon holding them both just nodded its agreement with a croak.

"See? Greninja says so!"

"Is that true? Can't you sense him any closer?" the boy sounded hopeful, but was disappointed as the water type shook his head in denial.

"Um… not to interrupt your conversation but, what are you doing in my gym's pool?" the redhead asked in bewilderment as she let her hair loose to squeeze the water out of it.

"Ah! Sorry miss! We'll be gone in a second!" the boy apologized as he started tampering with a device in his hands.

"Wow! You are a keeper!" the little girl finally noticed them. "Please take care of my brother!"

"A… keeper?"

"Bonnie! I told you to stop that a million times!" the older boy whined in flustered embarrassment. "Besides! We have more pressing matters!"

"Well, with how things are going, we will never find A-!"

A flash of light later, they had disappeared just the same way they had showed up...

"They are… gone," a snort behind her got the redhead's attention back to her friend. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that if Ash was here, he would have had a kick out of that little girl declaring you a keeper…"

"What does that even mean?!"

.:oOo:.

Screams of surprise filled the surrounding area as four humans fell through a perfectly rounded pit in the middle of a clearing, the moment the ground gave away under their weight.

Ash was not amused. He had fallen into this kind of traps way too many times in the past for it to be even a bit exciting anymore.

"What was that for?" he asked the Rocket trio while rubbing his back after he had fallen on a rock.

"Don't look at us, twehp!" Meowth was fast to defend from the top of the hole, beside the rest of the Pokémon. "We had noth'ng to do with this one."

"Why would we fall for our own trap anyway?" Jessie asked indignantly.

Ash just gave her a look, leaving unsaid the amount of time their traps had backfired.

"What's with that disbelieving face!?" she cried in outrage.

"Uh… nothing," Ash answered, raising his hands in a placating manner.

"I must admit the handiwork is not half bad," James praised in a completely different channel. "Just the right amount of dirt to hide it without hampering its true purpose, and no rough edges on the wall for easy climbing. But, I would have made it deeper..."

"Could it have been done by Team Flare?" Mallow asked warily.

"Don't think so," James informed her, signaling the vegetation that had started to grow on the walls. "It looks way older."

"This island used to be the home of an ancient civilization that was in charge of protecting the chambers within the volcano from any trespassers," the Slowking explained beside Meowth. "So I wouldn't be surprise if there were quite a few traps still lying around."

"Great, so you are saying that we not only have to hide from the unstylish jerks, but also, now we have to be careful of where we step?"

Jessie sure was in a foul mood. Ash couldn't really blame her. Slowking hadn't explained why he was needed to release Fenriar, but if it was true, their only option was to escape and hide rather than fight; as much as that went against his very instincts.

And that's exactly what they had done back in the cave. They had barely been given a chance to breathe when one of Team Flare's search parties had found them. Rather than a full out battle, the confrontation ended up being a game of chase in which the only times he ordered an attack was for distraction purposes. At the end, what had finally caused their persecutors to lose track, was the excessive foliage and the ridiculous amount of bad luck they had; which now that Ash gave it more thought, could be translated into ancient traps hidden through the forest.

"James, stop moving!" Jessie's yelling got him back to the present, just as she was climbing on her partner's shoulders in an attempt to reach the edge of the hole.

"I knew I should have stopped you from stuffing your face with those croissants…"

"What was that?"

Deciding to ignore their bickering, Ash turned to Mallow and suggested to give it a shot themselves.

"Right!" feeling determined, she climbed on Ash's shoulders and try to reach for the edge herself, but she was a few centimeters too short. "Just a bit further…huh?"

Out of nowhere, a vine came down and grasped her hand, starting to pull her up gently.

"Pikapi, pika pikachu!"

"What's that Pikachu?"

"It seems some old fwhiends saw us in twhouble and came to help," Meowth explained, signaling to a second Meowth sitting on its four legs right beside him.

"Oh, isn't that your clone friend, Meowth?" James asked.

"Clone?" Mallow asked in confusion from her new position beside a Venusaur with strange line patterns around its body.

Meowthtwo yawned in response and waited patiently for the rest of the humans to be pulled out of the trap.

"Thanks, Venusaur!" Ash said as he was placed on safe ground. "It's been so long! What are you guys doing on this island?"

As the Pokémon explained Meowth acted as official translator.

"'We had been traveling for a long time until we found this deserted island,'"Meowth started. "'We've been living here for a while, but then a group of fishy people invaded, so we went into hiding.'"

"What about Mewtwo?" Ash asked.

"'He went out to meditate. We sent message of the trespassing but he is yet to come back…'"

"Aren't we in luck?" Jessie exclaimed happily. "With Mewtwo on our side, we can send those Flare nuts packing!"

"That is, if he arrives before they find us…" James pointed out as he noticed a flying ship on the horizon.

Deciding it wasn't safe to stay put in one place for too long, they continued on towards the island's shore with the guiding help of Meowthtwo; Venusaurtwo deciding to go back to its hiding place since its larger body would have made it harder to avoid the different traps placed on their way.

.:oOo:.

"Pukokoooo!~"

"Is that the place?"

"It's the first piece of land we see in a while, so it better be."

Tapu Koko had been guiding them for quite a long time, to the point where Kiawe was starting to get worried about Charizard's stamina. Thankfully, they had just caught sight of a small island in the horizon. Besides the impressive looking volcano standing at the east side of it, there didn't seem to be much to look at.

"Hey, look! Something is rising near the volcano!" Serena alerted him.

And he stood corrected. A purplish looking ray had risen from the island and started expanding over it like a translucent cloth. As it went, a second layer rose from the island's shores to meet the one in the top.

"Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt! Scan complete! It is a force-field made out of plasma energy," Rotom informed them.

"Are they trying to keep us out?" Serena asked alarmed.

"Or prevent anyone from leaving…" Kiawe countered. "Hang on! Charizard, full speed ahead!"

They accelerated in seconds, creating a tail of wind as they went. Serena kept her eyes on the increasingly growing shield, trying to calculate how much time they had before it finished forming. She frowned. At their current speed, they would end up crashing against it.

Not wanting to test if she was right, Serena stood up from her seat and took a Pokéball out.

"What are you doing?!" Kiawe asked her over his shoulder.

"We are not fast enough! Concentrate in reaching the island, I'll stall the shield somehow," she explained. "Tapu Koko! Please lend us a hand!"

"Koko!" the electric type nodded its agreement just as Serena threw her Pokéball to the air and released Braixen in a flash of light. Understanding the plan, the Guardian went to catch her midair, and the fire type landed neatly on Tapu Koko's shield.

"Braixen, use Flamethrower just like we practice!" Serena ordered. "Tapu Koko, could you help us with a Thunder?"

Both Pokémon nodded without question and threw their respective attacks at the closing shield.

Braixen had sent her attack in a spiraling motion creating a perfect circle big enough for all of them to pass through while the electrical energy from Tapu Koko's Thunder surrounded the flames and fused with them. Thanks to the combination of elements, the shield paused its advance when the attacks connected.

"It worked, bzzt!"

"Great job, you two!" Serena praised. "Keep it up just a bit longer!"

They managed to keep the force-field from closing long enough for them to pass. Just as they all went through the shield, their attacks ceased, allowing it to close up completely behind them. With the job taken care of, Serena returned Braixen and thanked her for the help, while Rotom and Tapu Koko celebrated the small victory.

"We are finally here," Kiawe stated in relief. "Now let's search for Ash and Mallow."

"Yeah."

.:oOo:.

Back at Kukui's place, Rowlet was placidly sleeping, oblivious to the world, until two humans and a Pokémon he had never seen appeared out of nowhere and fell on the couch he was resting on. The poor grass type was scared out of his dreams by the rough awakening making him panic and fly around like a headless… bird-type.

"Ah! Watch out!" the little girl that had shown up was fast to run around the room trying to catch him when seeing his erratic flying. Finally, he let himself fall on her arms and looked around in calm confusion, making the girl giggle. "Sorry we startled you."

"This place looks familiar…" the older kid mentioned.

"Are we any closer to Ash, Greninja?" at his trainer's name, The Rowlet tilted his head in curious attention.

The girl brightened up at the affirmative response from the Pokémon she had addressed and both children seemed to gain newfound determination.

"Let?" The Rowlets asked.

"Oh, you see… our friend Ash is in trouble, so we are going to help him," the little girl explained, apparently understanding his confusion. Then she placed him back on the couch and turned around. "This time we'll find him! Right, Brother?"

"Right! Fourth is the charm!"

Right before the boy turned on the device, Rowlet flew towards the Greninja and landed on its head, managing to tag along for the ride.

.:oOo:.

"I'll divide our forces into two groups. Units nineteen and twenty-four are trained in terrain scouting so they will be taking water rides, while units thirteen and twenty-five are best for aerial training, they'll be taking the flying rides."

It had taken a few minutes for Professor Kukui to explain the situation to Officer Jennie. Once he had mentioned his students were in danger, she had mobilized her best units for a rescue mission. The problem was, Clemont had yet to report back, so they were still lacking coordinates. As it was, they started preparations thinking up strategies on how to best approach the problem.

"Professor," Lillie's voice gain his attention to the group of kids he was in charge of. All three looked apprehensive but determined. "We are going too."

Lana nodded. "Please don't try to stop us. We'll just find another way to go if you do."

"R-Right!" Even Sophocles' eyes shone with resolution through the obvious fear in his features.

Kukui let out a snort to remark his resignation, smiling despite the situation. "I wouldn't have try to stop you," he explained. "I know this is important to you, after all it involves your friends. And it wouldn't be fair to leave you behind when everyone else is doing their part to help."

Seeing the faintest of smiles on the kids, he continued a bit more severely. "Still, this is a very dangerous situation, so you have to promise to follow my every order and don't act without my approval. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Professor!" they answered in unison.

Once the three went to get ready, Officer Jenny approached him and whispered. "Are you sure about this?"

Kukui nodded. "It's better to bring the kids along and keep them supervised, than leaving them behind and risking them doing something reckless without anyone around to keep an eye on them."

A flash of understanding crossed Officer Jenny's face and she nodded back.

.:oOo:.

A new set of cries resounded in the island forest.

Ash's group had managed to avoid quite a few traps thanks to their new guide, but their luck couldn't last forever. They were currently going through a particularly tough area, stepping on anything that wasn't the ground, when it happened.

Meowth slipped and pushed Mallow, who in turn lost her balance and fell against Ash causing them both to fall screaming to the ground and into one of the traps. It wrapped up around them both while facing each other and hung them upside down from one of the trees.

"Pikapi!"

"Bou!"

"Wait, Pikachu! Don't step too close!" Seeing his partner looking confused, Ash elaborated. "We are surrounded by traps! You'll get caught too!"

Pikachu turned downwards to find that indeed the ground was plagued with them. He looked back at his trainer in worry wondering what to do.

"Huh, don't you think they look like a piñata?" James commented.

"Thwey look more like a larva Pokémon to me…"

"Meowth, what part of 'be careful where you step' you didn't get?" Jessie complained. "That could have been me."

"How about you stop staring and actually figure out a way to get us down from here?" Ash yelled at them in irritation.

"My blood is rushing to my head…" Mallow complained.

"And what are we supposed to do?" Jessie asked in disinterest.

"Think of something!" The two kids yelled back equally annoyed.

Not too far from them, a certain Guardian Deity started descending into a hidden clearing near the East coast. It wasn't long until he spotted the Pikachu which signature he had been following, and the Charizard behind him gave a roar of recognition to alert his riders of the finding.

"There they are!" the Kiawe kid exclaimed.

"Hey, Ash!" the girl shouted as they approached.

Hearing the familiar voice, Ash tuned out from the recently started shouting match and searched the skies for the owner; his action been enough for the rest of the group to pay attention.

"That sounded like-"

"Kiawe!" Mallow exclaimed joyfully; eyes sparkling with a new idea. "What a great timing! Could you help us down without touching the ground?"

"Whoa! Serena! What are you doing here?" Ash exclaimed with a laugh.

"Ash, are you alright?" She asked in worry instead.

"How did you two ended up in that position?" Kiawe asked next with a hint of mockery in his voice.

"Moh! It was Meowth's fault!" Mallow complained.

"Meowth?" That's when Serena noticed Team Rocket for the first time. "I should have known! What are you plotting this time?!"

"Hey! Don't look at me like that, twerpette! It was an accident! Besides, if it had been you instead of the pigtails brat here, you would have been thanking me foreve'!" Meowth retorted.

"Wh-What?!" Serena's face flushed brightly at the implication, unable to stop her imagination from running wild with pictures of herself in said position.

Ash and Mallow on the other hand didn't react, just blinking in confusion as Serena denied such claims. Kiawe decided he didn't want to know and set his mind into the task of helping his two friends.


	7. Chaos in the Mine Field

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long. One of my other projects was on its final stage, so it took priority over others. Also, life is being keeping me busy these past weekends (that’s when I normally have time to write), so it took me even longer to finish. Not to mention, the last scene was a pain to write (too many ideas). I hope it’s still good…

“Whoever built these traps was a genius!”

“I shall take photos for further studies, bzzt!”

“Great idea! I'll pass you my notes if you send me copies!”

Jessie and Meowth could just watch with deadpan expressions as their teammate jabbered on about the mechanics and durability of the ‘ingenious’ trap the twerps had been released from minutes prior. It was nothing out of the ordinary for James to get obsessed over things like this, but they didn’t expect the weird sentient PokéDex to join in the fun, taking photos and commenting how it looked so much like the one he once saw used on his favorite TV show.   

“James just found a new geeky pal…” Meowth commented.

“Good to see their friendship is taking off...” Jessie said next; mouth full of sarcasm.

The sound of a Poké Ball being opened and a flashlight later. “Wooobbuffet!”

“There you are, pal! I wuz starting to wonder if da writer had forgotten about you!” *

Quite a few steps away, the rest of the group was standing within a cleared area. It had taken a few minutes to set his friends free, but Kiawe was able to remove their bindings, using Tapu Koko’s help to carry them over.

“Thanks a lot, guys!” Ash exclaimed brightly, starting to stretch his muscles the moment he was back on the ground.

“Not a problem,” Kiawe answered with a smile.

“Pikapi!” Pikachu yelled from Serena’s arms. He was about to jump towards his trainer, but noticed Serena’s grip going slightly tighter and decided to stall in favor of turning curiously at her.

She was looking at her crush with a subtle blush on her face.

Noticing her nervousness, Pikachu called her name to get her attention and smiled reassuringly when the girl looked down at him. She smiled back, but seeing she hadn’t moved, he climbed over her shoulder and call towards his trainer again, effectively getting his attention this time.

When he finally noticed Serena standing there, Ash stopped his stretches and looked at them. She seemed to panic a little, hands flailing around indecisively and blush brightening, before opting for looking at the ground and grabbing her skirt with tight fists.

“Long time no see!” he greeted cheerfully; seemingly unaware of her nervous demeanor.

She tensed and nodded, still not looking at him. All of her courage seemed to have drained out of her; their last moment together, playing through her flustered mind as fresh as if it had just happened. Feeling a bit impatient, Pikachu sighed, climbing to Serena’s head and pushing her hat over her eyes before jumping off to join the others.

Confused by Pikachu’s actions, Serena pulled her hat back up only for her sight to stumble over the boy in front of her. Ash was now walking towards her with that warm smile she knew so well. And she suddenly stopped thinking.

“How have you been, Sere-?” Serena’s actions caused him to cut his sentence short as she enveloped him in a tight hug. He blinked in confusion for a moment, not knowing how to react.

“I’m so glad you are okay!” she said in obvious relief. The tension and fear for her friend finally being released at seeing him unharmed.

Understanding crossed through Ash’s expression, his smile back on his face, and he returned the embrace. “It’s really good to see you again, Serena.”

A few steps away, Mallow squealed happily to herself watching attentively, while Kiawe had just turned around in apparent disinterest, but feeling the weather warmer for some reason.

“Is it me or there is something different about them?” James blinked as he stared at the scene, finally leaving the ancient trap alone.

“I dan’t see anything different,” Meowth commented.

Jessie just frowned at her two teammates. “Are you really that blind? Hmph, can’t really expect you to understand the heart of a young maiden in love,” she said as she made a dramatic pose.

“And what’s up with her?” Meowth deadpanned.

As the trio continued bickering in their own corner, Serena’s brain seemed to finally catch up with her actions and she pulled away from the hug as if she had been burned. Seeing Ash’s confusion, she just smiled at him.

“I-I… I missed you,” she said in embarrassment.

Before Ash could vocalize his answer, the sound of motor engines got everyone’s attention to the sky.

“It’s one of their ships,” Kiawe recognized.

“We better move before they find us,” Ash suggested as they kept going; Meowthtwo taking the lead once more.

“Right! We were trying to find a way out of the island before we fell on that trap,” Mallow explained.

“Huh? Aren’t we going to stop Team Flare?” Serena blinked in surprised. That was not Ash’s usual plan.

Ash grimaced at her comment, looking at the Slowking before turning back to her.

“Slowking says they cannot continue with their plan without me, so we thought the best option to stall them, was not letting them find us again…”

“They... need you? W-What for?”

“There’s this Legendary Pokémon they need my help to unseal.”

“How exactly do they expect you to do that?” Kiawe asked in confusion.

Ash pressed his lips with a thinking frown for a second before nodding.

“I have no idea,” he answered with a confidence that didn’t match his words.

“Don’t sound so proud of it!” Kiawe growled.

“Still… getting out of the island will be difficult with that energy shield around it…” Serena commented in thought.

“What? There’s a shield around the island?” Mallow asked.

“Uh-huh, we barely manage to pass through it before it finished forming,” Serena explained.

“What do we do now?”

“Pika?!”

Reacting right on time, Pikachu jumped in front of Jessie’s face and swung his tail to intercept a sudden attack that had been directed at them. A few yells of surprise followed the consequential explosion, before anyone understood what had just happened.

“So kind of you to come running right back to us~” a female voice turned their attention to one of the lower branches of a tree, where Celosia, the purple hair scientist stood; her two Pokémon standing at the ready at the base of the same three.

“It’s them!” Kiawe exclaimed in alarm.

“Watch where you throw that at! Do you have any idea how long it takes to get my hair done in the morning!?” Jessie complained, having taken the worst part of the attack right in the face.

“Move along and away. Our business is with that boy,” Celosia continued, causing the kids and their Pokémon to stand on guard. “You and your eyesore of a hair are totally irrelevant to our mission.”

“ _Eyesore_?!” James and Meowth were wise enough to step back at Jessie’s suddenly dangerous aura. “I can’t expect you to understand the beauty of my wonderful hair, you bubblegum-haired weirdo!”

“I don’t see what’s so wrong with purple hair…” James commented, grabbing a lock of his own hair to look at it uncertainly.

“Yours is more of a lavender color, James,” Jessie explained matter of factly, as if that justified her comment completely.

“Hmph, you are the last person I want to hear fashion advices from,” Celosia’s comeback was calmed and collected, bypassing the insult entirely.

“And what are you implying with that?!” Jessie yelled back; emotional intelligence had never been her forte.  

“I’m already bored of you. Get them!”

At her command, a small group of Team Flare grunts showed up around the group throwing their own Poké Balls to the air.  Forming a protective circle around those who couldn’t fight, Ash’s group stood back to back.

“Pikachu, get ready!”

“Go, Braixen! Help us out!”

“Turtonator, you go too!”

“Let’s do our best, Bounsweet!”

“Pukokoo!” The Deity Guardian was fast to surround the field with electricity; not about to let them catch it by surprise a second time.

 

.:oOo:.

“Director, sir!”

“Ah, Aliana, any news?”

“We just got a report from Celosia’s team,” she explained.  “They found our target near the east coast and are currently engage in battle.”

“Very well. Prepare a team. We’ll use the confusion of the battle to retrieve the boy,” Lysandre ordered, before addressing his second in command. “Now, what did you say your plan was?”

Xerosic chuckled. “Oh, I was just thinking it might be a good time to test my newest prototype,” he commented excitedly as he lifted a heavy looking gun the size of a grenade launcher.

Aliana smiled at the sight. “I’ll be happy to play with your new toy.~”

 

.:oOo:.

 

When Mewtwo and Pidgeot finally arrived at the island, they encountered a preoccupying problem… they had been prevented from getting any closer by an energy field that surrounded the entire island. After a couple of attempts, Mewtwo was quick to notice that attacking it didn't work.

“Pidgeooot!”

_“You are right. We must find another way through.”_

A sudden flash at the other side of the field got their attention not too far from where they were, before a group of familiar figures appeared from within it and yelled in surprise as they fell to the trees below.

_“...”_

“Pid?”

_“I was just thinking, I should really learn that move...”_

 

.:oOo:.

 

Luckily for the recently teleported group, the trees were dense enough to stop their fall. Even if a bit disoriented, they were still in one piece.

“Where are we?” Bonnie asked as she tried to readjust her position in the branch she was sitting on.

Greninja made sure their new team addition was still securely perched on his head and looked around tapping into the bond’s connection. He immediately perked up, feeling his trainer close by.

“Ninja!” he croaked in excitement, pointing ahead.

“Is Ash near?!”

He nodded causing Bonnie to laugh in excitement. “We did it, Brother!”

“Great! I’ll send our coordinates to Professor Sycamore right away!” Clemont announced, already typing away in his calculating device. “There!”

“...Uh… Clemont? Is it supposed to make that sound?”

At Bonnie’s question, everyone turned to the device in Clemont’s possession noticing it had started to rumble; a bit of heat in the shape of steam escaping through the metal fissures.

“Oh-oh…”

.:oOo:.

 

Scouting the area, Maple’s team stopped on their track at the sound of an explosion coming from the top trees. Seconds later a couple of kids and a Greninja came falling down with frizzy hair and stained faces; the Greninja managing to maneuver around to catch them both before reaching the ground with the grace only its species was capable of.

“There goes another one…” the smaller girl mumbled.

“Ugh, it’s those kids again!” Maple complained, signaling her Houndoom to get ready. “Are you ever going to stay out of our way?”

“Ah! It’s Team Flare!”

“Now I’m a hundred percent sure we are at the right place!”

“I don’t have time to deal with you! Get rid o-! Huh?” half through her next order, Maple got distracted by the device in one of the kids’ hands, which had started to make strange noises and looked about to explode.

“Oh no! Not the Teleporter-To-Ash’s-Location-Device too!”

“Brother! Do something!”

The boy fiddled with it uselessly in an attempt to stop it from breaking down, but before anything happened, it suddenly disappeared from his hands making him stare dumbfounded.

“H-Huh? Where did it go?”

The Greninja looked surprised for a second before sharply looking behind Maple. She followed his line of sight only to find a second Pokémon sneakily flying through her ranks with the faulty device in claws. Maple cursed under her breath at the smug look the little owl-like Pokémon threw at her before the device exploded in hers and her team’s faces.

Coughing the remaining dust away, Maple turned back to the intruders only to find empty space. She growled in frustration, realizing the explosion had proven to be the perfect distraction for the kids and the two Pokémon to escape.

“The Director won’t like this… Find them!”

As her team ran ahead, they failed to notice the apparently new hole in the ground, where their current target had fallen into.

“Ow! Why did the ground give away like that?” Bonnie complained.

“It looks like an ancient trap,” Clemont commented in slight fascination below her.

“Let! Rowlett-row!”

“Oh, it's you!” Bonnie giggled as she let Rowlett land in her arms. “Nice work back there!”

He chirped happily at the compliment, letting her pet him for a bit before flying back to his self-assigned position on Greninja's head, who didn't mind at all and just croaked while looking up to remind the children they had to hurry.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Back in Melemele Island, Officer Jennie was giving the last security instructions to her team.

“From what we know about this criminal organization, they are very dangerous, and a threat to the world as a whole. Please practice caution, and do not underestimate them.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Officer Jennie, there’s someone in line thirty-three,” one of the officers informed. “Professor Sycamore. He says it’s urgent and mentioned to be looking for Professor Kukui.”

“He must have the coordinates we need,” Professor Kukui figured.

With a last order to get ready, Officer Jennie and Kukui went to take the call. The anxiety he thought would go away at getting the missing coordinates, just incremented by his own impatience to get to his missing students already. But Professor Kukui managed to keep it at bay, if only for the sake of the other half of his class, who were waiting nervously alongside the rest of the policemen.  

“Hang in there, kids,” he mumbled. “We are on our way…”

 

.:oOo:.

 

 

“Drapion, don't forget our true mission!” Celosia yelled. “Let the others take care of the Pokémon and concentrate on our target!”

With a roar of understanding, Drapion completely ignored its match against Turtonator and shot a Confuse Ray attack towards Ash, whose concentration had been completely on a battle against a couple of Houndoom.

“Ash, watch out!” Kiawe yelled.

Seconds before impact, Wobbuffet was standing in the way, receiving the attack with Mirror Coat. “Wobbuu!”

“Keep your eyes open, Twerp!” Jessie chastised behind him. “It is hard enough to keep track of all the enemies and traps without you needing saving again.”

“I see yar point, Jess. Da place’s infested,” Meowth commented next to them.

“Sorry… thanks for the help.”

“Pipika?”

“Yeah, I’m okay, buddy,” Ash reassured him before switching back to their battle. “Watch out for that Houndoom’s jaw and use Quick Attack! Wait! There’s a trap there! Go to your right instead!”

“Turtonator, use Flamethrower!”

“Move out of the way, Drapion!”

Seeing as he had gained Celosia’s attention back, Kiawe glared at her. “What do you think you’re doing attacking a trainer like that!?” Kiawe yelled in anger, offended by both being ignored and seeing someone throwing such a cowardice move.

“That's an unfair and illegal strategy on a Pokémon battle, bzzt!” Rotom's seconded in outrage.

“Who said anything about following rules? This is no kiddies’ playground,” Celosia countered.

“Don’t underestimate her, Kiawe!” Mallow warned him from within the protective circle, having taken a supportive roll in the battle. “These guys are really dangerous.”

“She is right!” Serena nodded. “Don’t let your guard down! Ah- Braixen, watch out for that Ice Beam!”

“Clearly, you don't understand your situation,” Celosia continued. “If you can’t deal with grownups’ battles, go back to your little island and stay out of our way!”

Kiawe just growled at her antagonizing words. He knew they weren’t just dealing with Team Skull wannabes, but he didn’t expect them to be in a totally different level. Not only did their battle skills felt superior to the bullies back home, but they also seemed more malicious. Not even Team Rocket, who constantly tried to steal Pokémon, had displayed such lack of honor when battling. The conversation at Professor Kukui’s house came back to mind, reminding him of how truly dangerous they were.

“Turtonator, get ready!” he yelled making up his mind. If they wanted to win, they had to give it their all.

“What is the bigger twerp doing?” James asked his companions curiously.

“Huh? What do you me-Whaaa!”

A strong wind coming from a sudden Brave Bird attack threw the Rockets against a rock one after the other.

“Hey! We are on your side, you bird brain!” Jessie yelled at Tapu Koko, who had been fighting a group of Skorupi, and apparently had retaliated with its own attack after avoiding several attempts at getting poisoned again.

The rock behind them moved slightly under the pressure of their collective weight.

“What… was that?”

“Wobbu?”

“Hey, der’s a lever right here.”

“Well don’t touch it, Meowth,” Jessie ordered. “It could be another trap for all we know.”

“Too late for that…” James informed. “Lever’s been pushed…”

“…”

A hidden trapdoor on the rock opened up, and the next thing they knew, they were falling headfirst through a sliding tunnel surrounded in darkness; their screams muffled by the rocky trapdoor as it returned to its original position.

“Hey, where did Team Rocket go?” Serena asked, being the first to notice their sudden disappearance.

“Eyes on the battle, girly,” a mocking voice addressed her just as an Ice Shard attack hit Braixen head on, throwing her near her trainer. “Such an amateur mistake…”

“Braixen! Are you okay!?”

“Oh no! More of them just showed up!” Mallow alerted everyone just as Maple made her presence visually known.

“What took you?” Celosia asked her teammate casually.

“Kids are multiplying. Had to send for another search party,” Maple explained as if it was just an inconvenience. “Now, who wants to try their luck with me?”

“How about we have a rematch?!” A voice from within the trees answered, before a Luxray jumped out and placed itself protectively in front of Serena and Mallow.

“That’s-!” Serena turned sharply to the trees were Luxray had come from and two familiar faces made their appearance. “Clemont! Bonnie!”

“Serena! You are here too!” Bonnie exclaimed running to tackle the older girl into a hug, before looking smug. “Does that mean you two are finally together?”

“Bonnie!!”

A shadow passed by the siblings at an unrecognizable speed and stood tall right beside Ash, who stared in awe before grinning excitedly.

“Greninja! You made it!”

“Pi-pika-pikachu!”

“Row-Rowleeett!”

“And you brought Rowlett with you! Awesome!”

“We got your back, Ash!” Clemont told him, as he and Bonnie positioned themselves ready for battle, completing the empty space in their circle left by the Rocket trio.

“Thanks, Clemont!” Ash nodded, before turning back at the bad guys he was facing; his three Pokémon eagerly awaiting commands. “Alright guys, let’s show them what we got!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I did… oops?


	8. Pulling Out the Aces

It had been clear to Ash that getting out of the island wasn't an option with the energy shield around it; and even without it, he knew that escaping wasn't going to stop Team Flare from coming after him again. As much as he wanted to respect Slowking's wishes, running wasn't a solution; it was just a stalling strategy. Ultimately everything came down to stopping Lysandre’s plan in its track. But for that, they needed to get out of their current situation.

Ash frowned in anxious concentration, as he surveyed the battle zone uncertainly.  They were still surrounded by enemy grunts, causing everyone’s attention to be divided all over the place. Adding to their problems, the sun was already setting, and the least they needed was to keep battling without sunlight.

“We need to end this fast,” Ash commented beside Kiawe, who smirked confidently.

“Leave that to us,” he said as he and Turtonator got in position.

“Okay, guys, let's cover for them!” Ash instructed his own team.

As the other two nodded their agreement, Pikachu ran in front of his trainer, and looked back at him with determination. “Pi-pika! Pikachu-chupi!”

“Are you sure, buddy? You still haven't completely recovered from our last battle,” receiving a decisive nod, Ash smiled and nodded in return. “Alright! Let's do this! Greninja, Rowlet, I’m counting on you!”

“Charizard, help us out,” Kiawe normally didn’t ask his grandfather’s Pokémon for help in battles, but he knew they would need all the help they could get.

A roar of understanding was his answer, and all three Pokémon rushed ahead ready to protect their trainers.

“Ash! Together!” Kiawe exclaimed; both boys now facing opposite directions.

“Right!”

As they started their synchronized move sequences, they could hear one of the admins growling.

“No! Don’t let them finish that!” she cried.

A strong gust of wind filled with static energy let them know, Tapu Koko wasn’t about to allow them to interfere either. Any other attempts to do so, were pointedly stopped by well-timed water shurikens, intense flamethrowers, and Leafage attacks.

“Huh, what are they doing?” Bonnie asked curiously beside them.

“That’s their Z-Move!” Mallow explained excitedly. “It’s a powered up move that works with the help of a Z-Crystal when both Pokémon and trainer share a strong bond.”

“Z-Crystals? It’s the first time I hear of them,” Serena commented.

When visible energy lights flew from the trainers to their Pokémon, Bonnie's curiosity turned to amazement. “Wow! So is it like Megastones and Megaevolution?”

“They do sound like they have similar concepts,” Clemont agreed.

“Inferno Overdrive!”

“Gigavolt Havoc!”

“Move away!” Even with the panicked order, most Pokémon weren’t fast enough to get off from the direct path of the Z-move attacks. Said attacks went past the battle ground and into the trees, causing destruction in their wake.

“That’s incredible!” Clemont exclaimed, watching the paths of destruction in total bafflement.

As soon as he finished his attack, Pikachu returned to Ash looking exhausted.

“Awesome job, buddy,” Ash congratulated him as he picked Pikachu up in his arms. “Take a rest.”

Pikachu nodded contently and climbed to his trainer's shoulder.

“Keep your cool! Don’t panic!” Mable yelled as she tried to regain control of the chaos. “We can’t let them get away!!”

“If you think your flashy moves will stop us, you are in for a surprise!” Celosia yelled next, sending Drapion back into the battle and returning her not so lucky Manectric. “Drapion, we wasted enough time! Bring that brat over here!”

The Drapion aimed an attack towards the ground right in front of the kids to block their view with lifted dust and debris, before going forward in an attempt to do as instructed, but Greninja was fast to step in the way, clashing with it.

“What do you even want with Ash!?” Serena asked as she stepped protectively in front of her friend.

“Nothing to do with controlling his bond with Greninja this time,” Celosia shrugged in apparent disinterest.

“W-What are you talking about?”

“What? You don't know?” the purple-haired woman laughed mockingly. “And to think you were right there!”

“Right there where?” Clemont asked with a suspicious frown.

Kiawe noticed Ash tensing beside him and sent him a questioning look, but he didn't press when Ash didn’t acknowledge it.

“I guess it is to be expected,” Celosia continued with a shrug, as she turned to look at Ash. “During Zygarde’s attack to the city, none of your pesky friends was around when we came to get yo-”

“Greninja, now!” as if guessing his trainer’s thoughts, the water-type jumped back and threw a cut attack toward the Drapion, making it fall back in pain.

“Tch! Drapion, retaliate with Pin Missile!”

Kiawe frowned towards his friend in thought. If he didn’t know better, he would say it looked as if Ash had deliberately distracted the woman from talking further. But his thoughts didn’t linger as a bright light got his attention towards the Greninja, who was suddenly surrounded by a pillar of spiraling water.

“What...?”

 

.:oOo:.

 

“Oh, it looks like Celosia and Mable are in trouble now,~” Aliana commented casually, as she observed the battle from a distance.

“That’s what happens when you keep playing around, taunting your opponents, instead of taking your mission seriously…” Bryony dismissed the thought. “Shouldn’t we have intervened by now?”

“Not yet,” Xerosic answered, without taking his sight off the battle. “We'll wait for the perfect moment.”

“Ugh… watching is boring,” Aliana whined; her fingers fidgeting with Xerosic’s invention in anticipation.

“Believe me, it’ll be worth the wait.”

 

.:oOo:.

“Don't push!”

“Whoever it is, ya’re stepping on my tail!”

“Well you are stepping on my personal bubble.”

“Hey! I think I found the exit!”

Within the deeper sections of the ruins surrounding the volcano, one of the rocky tiles forming the floor was carefully pushed aside without anyone’s notice. Three pairs of curious eyes scanned their new surroundings from within the underground tunnel before judging it safe to explore the outside.

“What's with this place?” Jessie asked noting the old looking structures.

“These look about as old as the traps in the forest,” James commented.

“Hey, whut’s that shiny thing ove’ there?” Meowth pointed behind them, where a contrastingly new mechanical contraption was standing in the middle of the current area; a bright pillar of purple light was coming from it and going towards the sky.  

“Is that what I think it is?” Jessie asked as she looked up.

“It looks like it is, Jessie,” James answered, with a hand over his forehead as if to block the sun from his eyes.

“Well, ya know whut that means, right?”

All three of them grinned simultaneously, as they got exactly the same idea.

 

.:oOo:.

 

“That’s it, Ash-Greninja! Keep it up!” yelled a very excited Bonnie after Greninja had jump in the air; -his double team at works;- to land neatly beside his trainer in eerily similar poses; the doubles finally vanishing.

“Pikaaa!” Pikachu yelled with equal enthusiasm.

“Bzzt-bzzzt! According to my data, that should not have been possible! Greninja does not have any further evolution known to date!” Rotom yelled in alarm, showing a confused smiley, before changing it for a frustrated one. “Ash, why is your Greninja going against all logic!?”

“Huh?” Kiawe asked not quite getting what had been said.

Ash and Greninja both scratched the back of their head and had the grace to look sheepish at the thought of causing the sentient PokéDex headaches and confusions... again.

“Sorry...?” Ash apologized, unsure if that was what Rotom was expecting him to do.

“Why is the Greninja even here?” Celosia complained as she returned her fainted Pokémon. “I thought you said it was left behind.”

“That’s what our intelligence agent reported,” Mable shrugged. “How should I know?”

The odds had been drastically reversed in just a few seconds. Even if Team Flare’s number were greater, the kids had managed to overpower them with just a few Pokémon. Mable had to wonder what they fed them with.

“Give it up, Team Flare! You messed with the wrong trainers!” Serena shouted confidently; already fired up by the new turn of events after Braixen knocked yet another Pokémon out of the battle.

“That’s right! You, bad people are going down!” Mallow agreed.

Kiawe had to do a double take at his long time friend’s cheerfulness. He would have expected Mallow to be a bit more wary of their situation, but she was taking it as if it was just another outdoors lesson from school. Not to mention, the lack of reaction at the seemingly impossible coordination between Ash and his water Pokémon. Even after a life of training and seeing Z-Moves in action, he had never seen anything like it. The both of them moved in total sync, as if they could read each other’s thoughts, and Kiawe wondered if that was actually what was happening. During a close call where the blue-haired lady’s Weavile graced Greninja’s arm with a Metal Claw attack, he noticed both Pokémon and trainer flinching at the same time; as if Ash himself had been hurt. Sudden understanding wash down on Kiawe as that morning’s video call came back to mind. What had been discussed then, made a lot of sense now.

“Turtonator…” he waited for his Pokémon to look at him in attention before continuing. “We are not going to be left behind. Let’s show them our strength too!”

With a roar of agreement, Turtonator prepared his next attack…

 

.:oOo:.

 

Quite a few kilometers away, riding behind Lana in the back of a Sharpedo through the open sea, Sophocles was trying hard to distract his nerves by listening in to others’ conversations, but when even the extremely unlikely but interesting story of one of the officers about seeing a mythical pink and black Pokémon passing by at blurring speed wasn't enough to calm him down, he started fidgeting as if in discomfort.

“Is there something wrong, Sophocles?” Lana asked him, noticing his constant twitching.

“N-No…” for all his efforts, Sophocles just wasn’t good at hiding his emotions, and his friends were fast to notice he was lying.

“D-Don’t worry, Sophocles! I-I know that r-riding these Pokémon is really an e-experience,” Lillie told him from a ride beside theirs, where she was grabbing onto Professor Kukui’s back for dear life. “B-But we’ll be fine! T-This is nothing!”

“I-I’m not afraid of the ride!” Sophocles protested immediately. “R-Really, I’m not…”

“There is nothing wrong with being nervous,” Kukui voiced with a patient smile. “Actually, I would fear for your emotional and mental health if you weren’t.”

Sophocles kept quiet for a few seconds, debating if he should share his thoughts, but reminding himself he still needed the distraction, he relented in hopes of finding comfort with the others’ opinions.

“I just never thought… why would anyone want to take Mallow and Ash away from home like that?”

The group felt silent at his question; Kukui himself frowning in thought. When he had to explain to his students what had happened, he had gone into general details about the incident to avoid getting them too worried. He had refrained from telling them anything regarding Ash’s possible familiarity with the criminals or how they probably were planning something world-threatening. It wasn’t until they had arrived at the station and he had requested to speak with Officer Jenny in private, that he explained to her everything Ash’s friends from Kalos had mentioned, including his own confusion as to why such a syndicate would go through the trouble of finding and going after his charge. The thought still unnerved him, and he couldn’t ignore the dreading feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him that if they didn’t rescue the kids on time, something really bad would happen to them.

“T-They must be feeling very scared right now…” Lillie’s soft whispering got him out of his musings.

“Do you think they'll be okay, Professor?” Lana asked; her face uncharacteristically serious.

Kukui regarded her for a second before smiling confidently for all their sakes. “They will.”

 

.:oOo:.

 

“They are getting overconfident. Perfect,” Xerosic smiled turning on his gun-like creation.

“Is it time?” Aliana asked excitedly, not waiting for an answered before turning her own borrowed gun. “Finally! Now who should we test it with first?”

“I say we get rid of the flying bugs,” Bryony suggested.

“Agreed...” 


	9. Divide and Conquer

 

“James, do your thing.”

“Huh? What am I supposed to do?”

“How should I know? You are the techno geek here.”

The Team Rocket trio was currently standing right in front of the device that was to blame for their lack of freedom. The only thing needed to be done now, was to disable its energy supply and shut down the shield surrounding the island. So James got to work, opening one of the panels around the machine and started to tamper with it. Just a few minutes later however, he was frowning in disappointment while rubbing the back of his head helplessly.

“It’s… no use,” he informed. “It has a security system. We need a key.”

“What kind of key?” Jessie asked.

“How about we just hit it until it breaks?” Meowth suggested.

His two human companions shared a look and shrugged. Might as well go with that, what could possibly go wro-?

 

.:oOo:.

 

A loud explosion distracted both parties from their fight towards the volcano’s side of the island. Far in the distance, a black cloud of smoke rose through the treetops, just as the purplish shield, visible through the last rays of sunlight, started to disintegrate and vanished.  When the loud uproar caused by the explosion ceased, they could hear very familiar screams coming towards them.

And then they saw it. Soaring through the sky, Team Rocket passed by, already going half through their blast of.

“It seems our role in dis story is ova’!”

“No fair! I want a rewrite!”

“At least we did something useful…”

“Wooobbuffett!”

“That’s somehow nostalgic,” Clemont commented as he adjusted his glasses.

“I know. It's been awhile since they flew off like that,” Ash agreed.

“Really?”

Before anyone could answer Bonnie’s question, a Bewear came jumping from the opposite direction and grabbed Team Rocket before they flew too far.

“Oh, there's that Bewear again,” Mallow commented, watching as the Bewear turned back into the direction it had come from and disappeared through the trees with its cargo.

“What… just happened?” Serena finally voiced.

“I'm still trying to understand that myself...”

“Pathetic,” Celosia murmured, before a big shadow fell on her. She turned around to see Turtonator standing menacingly over her.

“Could say the same about you,” Kiawe commented right by his partner; a smug grin adorning his face.

 

.:oOo:.

 

“They have disabled the shield!” Xerosic was steaming.

“We better start hunting then,” not one to waste time, Aliana loaded her gun, aimed and fired her first shot.

A metal ball surrounded by raw energy blasted off the cannon at incredible speed towards the intended target. Upon contact, the projectile changed forms and expanded the energy around its victim with the shape of a restraining ring. Finding itself unable to fly, their first capture pummeled to the ground below without much resistance.

“Bingo!”

.:oOo:.

 

Tapu Koko’s cry of surprise and consecutive fall got everyone’s mind back in high alert just in time to see several balls of energy shooting all around them.

“What are those things?!”

The kids barely manage to avoid getting hit by moving around and spreading in different directions; their Pokémon doing their best to defend both themselves and their trainers.

“What do we have here?” Mable asked to herself as she approached the Guardian Pokémon.

“Looks like Xerosic just finished his little invention,” Celosia commented, relaxing her posture.

“Tapu Koko is in trouble!”

“Ash, wait!”

Identifying the reason of the warning, Greninja was fast to grab his trainer and pull him out of the way of a Druddigon that dropped right in front of them. As it moved to attack, Greninja went ahead to counter it before leading it far from the group. Ash took the chance to look back to the place where Tapu Koko had fallen, only to find it surrounded by grunts.  

“Rowlet, can you help?”

The owl-like Pokémon chirped in confirmation flying up and away.

“Luxray, Swift to your right!” Clemont warned his Pokémon a few steps away, noting how the defeated teams retreated back to let the new arrivals continue the battle. “Careful, everyone! They got backup!”

“Oh, no! Braixen!”

Hearing Serena's cry, they turned around to see the fire-type captured by another ring after she had cover for her trainer. Thinking fast, Serena pulled out Braixen’s Poké Ball and tried to return her, but the pulling energy just bounced back.

“It seems the energy forming those rings is cancelling out the Poké Ball’s function,” Clemont deducted.

“Pikachu! Help Braixen out!” Ash exclaimed, while still keeping an eye on his other two Pokémon.

Exclaiming his acknowledgement, Pikachu ran forward, avoiding energy balls as he went and jumped high in the air preparing an Iron Tail attack. Braixen stood still watching as he sliced through the metallic part of the constraints which shut down with a small explosion.

“Thanks, Pikachu!” Serena said before addressing Braixen. “Are you okay?”

Seeing they had things under control again, Ash concentrated in Rowlet’s moves, watching as he attempted to sneak through the enemy’s ranks and reach the Guardian Deity.

“Bzzt, there is something behind the trees!” Rotom informed Ash, who spotted a light reflection seconds later.

“Rowlet, watch out! Go up!”

Rowlet listened trying to follow the instruction, but it was too late. A metal ball crashed into him, and captured him instantly, making him fall right beside Tapu Koko without even moving an inch.

“Oh, no! Is it hurt?” Bonnie asked in worry.

“Bzzt, bzzt, scan complete. Rowlet is asleep,” Rotom helpfully supplied.

“Huh?”

“I should have known…” Ash deadpanned.

“What is Tapu Koko trying to tell us?” Mallow asked, noticing the Guardian Pokémon crying out to them.

“Tapu Koko is telling us not to get closer,” Slowking translated Tapu Koko’s call. “ ‘It’s too risky. We’ll be fine. Go hide.’ ”

“We have no choice,” Kiawe exclaimed, who had been instructing Turtonator to roast any energy balls that were shot in their general direction. “Everyone, cover into the trees!”

Ash looked conflicted but didn’t reproach. “We’ll come back for you,” he promised before he ran and followed Kiawe.

.:oOo:.

 

Aliana was having the time of her life. Just seeing the group of kids running away like scared Skitty was enough to make her laugh loudly. “Run all you want, but you won’t escape!”

“Aliana, you are supposed to concentrate on capturing one kid, not play huntress with all of them,” Bryony lectured her just as she captured the big turtle-like Pokémon.

“Then what are _you_ doing?”

“Clearing the path.”

Xerosic let them to their devices, trusting them to capture any meddling kid that tried to get in their way. Releasing Malamar from its Poké Ball, he walked ahead, loading his own gun.

“Let’s go, Malamar,” he grinned.

.:oOo:.

 

They were separated again. Through the chaos and panic, everyone had run in different directions and ended up lost. Kiawe frowned in worry as he walked alongside Ash. For one thing, neither had any of their Pokémon with them. And for another, it was getting dark. He wondered if it was a good idea to wander around like this, but seeing Ash so determined to keep going, he couldn't back down either.

“Any idea where we are heading?” he asked instead, receiving a nod of confirmation.

“Best thing to do is find the others, then we'll figure out a way to release anyone who has been captured,” Ash answered with so much certainty it sounded almost casual.

“That's… unexpected,” Kiawe voiced, blinking in surprise. He had expected Ash to act rash and run back to help their captured friends.

“What?”

“I thought you would refuse to leave when a few of us were captured.”

Ash frowned at that, not looking at him as if conflicted. “Some time ago I would have done just that,” he admitted in a surprisingly subdued voice. “But now I know that's not going to help.”

Kiawe raised an eyebrow in inquiry, encouraging him to elaborate.

“Team Flare is clearly focused on me. If I stayed and they captured me, everyone's effort would have been for nothing,” he explained.

Kiawe nodded in understanding. His grandfather used to say that right decisions took maturity and great experience, and he wondered just how much experience Ash really had, for him to be able to think so clearly while being under stress.

“Let's go this way,” Ash’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Are you sure we are not getting more lost?”

Ash shook his head. “Greninja is that way, I can feel it,” he explained. “He probably won’t be alone, so if we find him…”

“We might find the others,” Kiawe finished. “Lead the way.”

 

.:oOo:.

 

“We barely made it…”

“Braixen-brai.”

“Yeah, but we got separated…”

Looking around, Serena noticed Clemont was right. Even though Pikachu had managed to stay close to her, Ash was nowhere to be found.

“What should we do now?” Mallow asked beside her, as she perched her Bounsweet on her head.

“For now let’s stay together and keep an eye open for the others,” Clemont suggested, taking notice of his missing sister and Pokémon.

“It might not be wise to wander around at night,” the Slowking beside them advised. “The traps in the forest will get harder to detect.”

“But… we can’t stay put in one place with Team Flare looking for us, either,” Serena commented.

“That’s also true,” Slowking agreed.

Opting to keep moving at a low pace, they fell into a comfortable silence only broken by the sound of their steps. Serena couldn’t help feeling a sense of nostalgia as they kept going. Flashbacks of times when they ended up apart from each other only to reunite by the end of the day started playing in her mind.

“It almost feels like back then…” Serena commented in a low whisper; absently scratching Pikachu on the neck, who squeaked contently at the petting.

Understanding what she meant, Clemont smiled sadly. “If only the circumstances weren’t so serious now.”

Noticing the mood going downwards, Mallow was fast to interject. “You used to travel together, right? Was it fun? I’ve never traveled like that, so I don’t know what it is like!”

Taken aback by the question, Serena took a few seconds to process it and smile. “Yeah, it was lots of fun. Kalos has a bunch of interesting places to visit, and even if you are not used to sleeping outdoors, it becomes a very fun experience!”

“We did a lot of walking and running, too…” Clemont joined in, with a face that said he didn’t exactly enjoyed that part. “But I learned a lot of important things through our journey. Things that I wouldn’t have been able to learn otherwise.”

“Yeah, me too,” Serena agreed.

“That sounds amazing!” Mallow commented.

They let the silence drawl for a few seconds before Clemont decided to voice his thoughts. “You know? The circumstances may not be optimal… but I’m really glad I got to see you guys again.”

Serena smiled brightly and nodded. “I really missed you all.”

“Hey! How about we find Ash and the others so we can get out from here?” Mallow started with a new idea in mind. “Once we are back in Melemele Island and I’ll prepare us a traditional Alolan dish so electrifyingly tasty you’ll be energized in the first bite!”

“Boun!”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Serena exclaimed.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Clemont said next.

“Of course, you are also invited, Slowking,” Mallow smiled at him.

“Sounds like a nice way to celebrate from adverting yet another end of the world,” Slowking answered truthfully.  

Serena nodded, scowling in thought. “I still don’t understand why Team Flare would specifically need Ash to break a seal…”

“A seal? Is that why they went after him?” Clemont asked, having missed that conversation.

“That’s right! You haven’t explained that part to us, Slowking,” Mallow commented.

“Wait, you know why?” Serena suddenly looked more alert.

The Slowking nodded. “It’s because it’s Ash…”

The kids and Pokémon beside him stared at Slowking with equal expressions of confusion, expecting him to elaborate, but he didn’t.

“Ah! Is it one of the reasons why you don’t want him to change his name?” Mallow suddenly asked.

“Hmm… it could very much be part of it,” Slowking nodded.

“Oh, I see, I see. That makes sense.”

“That makes no sense at all…” Serena deadpanned; Clemont’s face being a mirror of her own.  

Being too enthralled in the now confusing conversation, the group failed to notice the large group of individuals observing them a few steps behind them.

“This is too easy,” Bryony commented in a whisper, as she loaded her gun...

 

.:oOo:.

 

“Are you a Pokémon or a Poké Dex?”

“I am RotomDex! Nice to meet you in person!”

“Oh! So, you are a Rotom!” Bonnie giggled. They were following Greninja through the forest; Bonnie mounted over Luxray, who had picked her up when they were escaping. “Hi, Rotom! I’m Bonnie!”

“No! I am-”

“So, Rotom! You can scan any Pokémon, right? That’s amazing!”

Rotom seemed to come to a realization before exclaiming. “Ash never told me he had a little sister, bzzt!”

“Nin-ninja…”

“What? They are not related, bzzt?” Rotom looked utterly surprised. “But I feel like I’m talking with a smaller, female version of him! There is no way they are not related!”

“Rotom is funny,” Bonnie giggled again. “Hey Greninja! Are we close to Ash?”

“Gren,” He nodded, before pointing ahead. “Ninja.”

“He says Ash is just past those bushes,” Rotom translate dutifully.

“Great! Let’s step it up, Luxray!”

Smiling in amusement, Luxray hurried his steps just enough to walk abreast with Greninja.

“Seriously, Ash. You are making it too easy for these guys to get you,” they found a very annoyed Kiawe apparently talking to a tree.

“It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose,” Ash’s voice grumbled. “These traps are everywhere!”

“Hey! We found someone!” Bonnie exclaimed, gaining their attention.

“Oh, hey! It’s Bonnie!”

Without a word, Greninja jumped to the tree in front of Kiawe and slashed through its branches. Seconds later, a net fell with a thud and surprised yell. That’s when Bonnie noticed, Ash was now grunting in pain on the ground.  

“Could have warned me…”

Greninja’s only answer was to shrug while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“Ash!” feeling eager to greet him properly, Bonnie jumped off of Luxray and ran ahead just as Ash had finished standing, only to tackle him and send him back to the ground with a second grunt. “It’s been so long!”

“H-Hi, Bonnie,” was all he managed.

Kiawe felt a bit of amusement. Despite the obvious lack of air, Ash was smiling brightly, letting the small girl hug his lungs out.  

“So where are the others?” she asked when she finally let him go.

“We haven’t-”

The sound of an explosion in the distance cut Ash's sentence just as a blinding thunderbolt crashed from the earth to the sky, illuminating their surroundings for several seconds.

“That was Pikachu’s thunderbolt!”

“That strong!?” Kiawe asked in surprise.

“It was 50% stronger than the strongest Thunderbolt I had registered yet!!” Rotom seemed to be conflicted between being excited for the new found data and being alarmed by the implications of the sudden display.

Ash and Greninja were the first to move, sprinting ahead in complete synchronicity. Luxray signaled Bonnie to get on and was fast to follow after Kiawe help her climb on; Kiawe himself managing to keep up on his own. But the group didn’t get too far.

“Crobat, Air Slash!”

Despite it being a surprise attack, it was easily retaliated by both Pokémon using their respective long distance moves. And just as they got effectively distracted by the Crobat in front of them, a second order was commanded; muffled by the sudden battle.

“Malamar, you know what to do.”

There wasn’t anything the Pokémon could do, the moment the three humans were suddenly lifted off the ground by an invisible force.

“What’s going on?!” Kiawe exclaimed, unable to move an inch.

“Good job,” Xerosic praised, stepping out of the darkness the trees provided, with his invention in hand.

“What are you doing here? You should be in jail,” Bonnie was fast to reproach.

Greninja and Luxray stepped up, ready to fight, but cut their actions short at the sound of the children crying in pain behind them; the energy surrounding them getting brighter. The Malamar then smiled maliciously and said something that made Greninja and Luxray hesitate even more.

“W-What i-is going on-n?” Kiawe asked through gritted teeth.

“It's Psychic! A move that hits the target with a strong telekinetic force, bzzt!”

“G-Greninja, Luxray! Don’t w-worry about us! You gotta stop them!” Ash managed to say.

Xerosic just laugh at this. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” and he fired...


	10. A Force to be Reckoned With

The moment the energy shield vanished, the first thing Mewtwo did, was look for his Pokémon companions and make sure they were all fine and well. So now he was listening intently as Pikachutwo gave a report of what he heard from the group of humans that had invaded their recent home. Mewtwo had already suspected they were dealing with another criminal organization bent on using the island’s power for their own selfish purposes, but he was surprised to hear from Venusaurtwo that they hadn’t come alone. Apparently the group had brought a couple of young human kids and their Pokémon. The grass type was in the middle of explaining how he and Meowthtwo had stumbled upon the kids after they had fallen into one of the ancient traps, when Meowthtwo came running in, exclaiming their old friends were being attacked by  the bad group.

 _“What do you mean by ‘old friends’?”_ Mewtwo asked filling intrigued.

“Nya-nya! Meow-nya!”

The Psychic’s eyes widen in recognition right before a powerful Thunderbolt Attack rose in the distance with a loud crack. Mewtwo levitated lightly over the ground with a focused frowned. _“I’ll go investigate the situation. You all stay here and keep hiding.”_

 

.:oOo:.

 

“I’m telling you, man! I saw it again! How come you didn’t?!”

“What’s up with him now?”

“He says he saw the same pink and black legendary creature pass us by so fast it was just for a second…”

“You are still going on with that?”

“But it’s true! It was going back from the opposite direction! Wooosh! Through the water! Like that!”

As the officers riding beside them had their conversation, with one of them trying to convince another two of what he saw, Professor Kukui’s concentration went entirely in the piece of land that could clearly be seen in the horizon. They had finally found the island.

“Henry, Evan scouting duty!” Officer Jenny’s voice was heard just ahead of them. Immediately cutting their conversation, two of the officers raised their head in attention as Jenny continued. “Stay hidden and do not engage with the criminal group if possible. In the case you find any of the missing kids, I trust you to evaluate the situation properly and act accordingly!”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Can’t we go too?” Lana asked as she watched the two officers speed up ahead.

“They’ll go first to make sure it is safe for us to land,” Professor Kukui explained. “We will be of no use if we are caught by surprise.”

It made sense, but it didn’t mean the kids like the idea. All they wanted was to look for their missing friends and make sure they were all okay.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Kiawe grunted as he tried to force himself free of the binding ring around his arms and torso. A lingering headache thanks to Malamar’s Psychic attack left him stunted for a few seconds before he had regain his bearing. Looking around, he noticed everyone else wasn’t holding any better.  When the Malamar had gotten ahold of them, he had been forced to watch helplessly as the goggles guy shot his weapon at the distracted Pokémon, two rings each, before going for them as well. Once the energy ball had transformed and tightened around him, Kiawe felt Malamar’s power loosen, and he fell to the ground right beside Ash and Bonnie, each struggling to break free without success.  

“We recaptured the kid,” the nutty scientist was saying as he communicated through a Holocaster. “I’m heading back to the seal chamber.”

“Well done, Xerosic. I’ll be expecting your prompt return,” his leader commented before cutting the call.

“Xerosic Sir, what are the orders?” a female grunt stepped up to ask.

“Bryony and Aliana should be done by now. Take the kids and go back to camp,” the Xerosic guy ordered. “As for their Pokémon… make sure they are as far away from the volcano as possible. We won’t take any chances.”

 

.:oOo:.

 

The ambush had been fast and without warning. As they were walking through the dark forest, attacks came from four different directions, successfully splitting their attention and increasing the chances of getting captured. Before she even understood what was going on, Serena and Braixen had been tie-up together by a single ring with Clemont falling somewhere near them seconds later.

“Pikachu, be careful!” Mallow’s voice got her attention towards Pikachu himself, who had been surrounded by grunts’ Pokémon ready to battle.  In a desperate attempt to knock down as many as possible, Pikachu had released one of his most powerful Thunderbolts and almost succeeded. But he didn’t count on one of the admins coming behind a rock and shooting an energy ball at him.     

“Ugh… we got the Pikachu, where’s the trainer?” Aliana asked half whining.

“Wherever he is hiding, he won’t leave without his Pikachu,” Celosia said matter of factly. “We’ll just wait until he shows up.”

“It’s the first time I hear you making sense,” Bryony commented mockingly.

A loud ring interrupted the conversation before it escalated into bickering. Mable pulled out a Holocaster and huffed.

“It’s Xerosic,” she announced before walking away to take the call.

“You still haven’t told us what you want with Ash,” Clemont voiced.

“Hmph, as if we have to tell you anything,” Aliana was the one to answer.

“Let’s just say he has a very interesting Aura,” Celosía mentioned cryptically.

As he observed the other’s reactions, Clemont barely detected Pikachu tensing in something akin to realization. That’s when he understood the purple-haired lady’s comment actually had a hidden meaning.

“Aura… you mentioned something like that when we were in the airship,” Mallow told Slowking in remembrance.

“Pi Pikapi pika… pikachu pi-pi?”

The Slowking regarded Pikachu for a moment before nodding. “I’m afraid that is exactly it.”

As he got his answer, Pikachu seemed to deflate in sudden worry; his ears flattening against his skull; leaving Clemont even more intrigued, but his thoughts didn’t linger there as Mable returned.

“Mission accomplished, let’s head back” she reported. “We are taking only the kids.”

A shiver ran down Clemont’s back at the implication, exchanging a worried glance with Serena, he knew she had gotten to the same conclusion. They had found Ash.

 

.:oOo:.

 

A little ways away from them, Rotom dashed through the forest with only one purpose in mind. Even if this time, Ash hadn’t say anything but his name, Rotom understood perfectly what his assigned trainer wanted him to do: ‘Escape and get help.’

He had been easily ignored by the bad guys, allowing him to sneak away from there undetected. So now he was on a mission. That is how a few minutes later he stumbled; quite literally; upon a couple of uniformed personnel that he recognized as police officers from Alola.

“Wow, what hit me?”

“Are we under attack?!”

“Bzzt, bzzt! We need help!” Rotom exclaimed getting their full attention.

“Hey, aren’t you Professor Kukui’s RotomDex?”

“That’s right! I’m- wait! There’s no time! Ash, Kiawe and Bonnie are in trouble, bzzt!”

The two officers were startled by the outburst already in high alert.

“Let’s contact Officer Jennie...”

 

.:oOo:.

 

“How did we end up on guard duty?” Aliana was asking; her face reflecting a childish pout as she swung her weapon around carelessly.

“Can you really complain?” Celosia shrugged. Both of them had stayed behind, watching as the grunts under their command prepare the recently captured Pokémon for transportation. “You had your fun with Xerosic’s little project. I’ve been wanting to give it a test myself since he blabbed about the initial idea.”  

Before Aliana could respond to that, a voice cut through everyone’s thoughts.

_“You, humans! What is your purpose here?”_

The grunts stopped what they were doing at the suddenly invasive voice in their heads, looking around in search of the owner.

“Who’s there?!” Celosia demanded to know.

_“I won’t ask again, how did you find this place and what is your purpose?”_

That’s when they saw it. A strange looking Pokémon with cold eyes descended through the top trees into the clearing, scanning its surroundings with a calculating glare.

“Pi! Pika!” the Pikachu’s sudden yell caught the new arrival’s attention. “Pi-Pikachu Pikapi! Pikachu-chu-pi!”

Narrowing his eyes at whatever he had been told, the unknown Pokémon scanned the area again before nodding.

 _“I understand… leave it to me,”_ he finally said as he raised his glowing paw.   

 

.:oOo:.

 

The scene they encounter as they reached the shore left them speechless. The land was scorched and broken in several parts. Fallen trees and smoking bushes. It was like the aftermath of a war zone. Which Kukui was fast to deduct, it was.

He looked around frantically, searching for his students but there was no sight of anyone. Not even the criminals.

“Professor.”

Officer Jenny’s call got his attention to where she was standing. The officers she had sent to scout ahead had come back fast, announcing they had news of the kids. As Professor Kukui approached, he finally saw Rotom floating beside them, reporting to Jenny in the officer’s place.

“Rotom!” he called as he walked to stand beside Jenny.

“Professor! We need to hurry, bzzt!”

“What happened?” Kukui asked immediately.

“It says three of the children had been looking for the others when they were ambushed and captured,” Jenny explained.  

 

.:oOo:.

 

“Glad to see you back with us, Ash.”

Lysandre’s casual greeting only served to put Ash on edge. Just being near the madman, made him feel inexplicably vulnerable; now more so than ever as he had been separated from his Pokémon. He tried taking comfort in the fact that Team Flare had reunited him with his friends, but the sole fact that they had been captured too, ruined the poorly attempted positive thought.

“Why are you even alive?” Bonnie’s voice cut through his thoughts. “We saw Squishy defeating you with one of his crazy laser attacks!”

Kiawe couldn’t help gawking at the boldness of the girl; never mind what she was claiming to have seen. But the guy didn’t seem angry about it. In fact Lysandre ignored her completely, having his focus entirely on Ash, who had gone uncharacteristically quiet.

“I’ll like to continue our chat from this morning,” Lysandre said politely. “I do believe you have the right to know what we need you for, before we begin.”

“I know you want me to break Fenriar’s seal,” Ash said with a scowl. “You can forget about it. I’m not helping you do anything!”

“Ah. I see Slowking already explain that to you. Excellent. This saves time,” Lysander said, ignoring Ash’s last remark entirely. “We learned that in order for the seal to be broken, a certain kind of energy is needed. The one we would call our life force, yet only few could canalize into something tangible.”  Seeing the group’s confused faces, Lysandre explained. “You might know this energy as Aura.” Gazing at Ash, he saw there was finally some recognition. Smiling, he continued. “As you might have guessed, that is the same kind of energy used for certain type moves.”

“Are you saying the seal can only be broken by weakening it with Aura based attacks?” Clemont asked incredulous.

“That is a logical train of thought,” Lysandre shook his head. “But of course, the Aura Guardians who sealed the beast away wouldn't have made it so easy to break.”

“So that won't work…” Serena guessed in relief.

“No. We’ve tried,” Lysandre admitted. Most of them getting chills from what could have happened have they succeeded. “Further research however, has provided us with the solution,” he turned away from them as he continued. “As it turned out, only an Aura Guardian would be able to break the seal.”

Clemont frowned in suspicion. If only an Aura Guardian could break the seal, he couldn’t understand why Lysander would have gone through the trouble to find Ash… unless...

“I thought the Aura Guardians only were from ancient legends,” Mallow commented.

“It is true that they are a rare sight nowadays,” the man agreed. “Still, we found records of at least one adept in training; whose location we are yet to figure out,” he turned to look at Ash before he continued. “And most recently, someone who has the ability to be one, even if they don't actively practice it...”

Something clicked and Kiawe’s eyes widen in realization. “Wait just one second! Are you implying that Ash…”

Kiawe turned sharply to look at his friend, finding he was just as surprised by Lysandre’s explanation; his face going pale with some sort of realization.

“H-How did you…?”

That’s when Kiawe knew Ash wasn’t surprised by the information; he was surprised by the fact the guy knew about it.

“Perhaps these could clear things up for all of you,” Lysandre suggested, as he showed two blue flowers.

“Time Flowers?!”

Lysandre chuckled at Ash’s outburst. “So you are familiar with them,” he commented completely unsurprised. “Then you must know how they function. Would you like to do the honors?”

Ash gritted his teeth and sent a defiant glare to the man, deciding not to answer. Last he needed was to admit to him how true his findings were.

“I see you won't. Though expected, I must admit I was rather curious to see a true Aura user activating them instead of our… alternate method.”

Serena looked worriedly at Ash who had yet to deny Lysandre’s remarks. His frustrated scowl being more than enough proof of her own suspicions.

She thought of saying something, but Lysandre turned the machine attached to the first flower on, and without warning, their surroundings shifted in distortional waves…


	11. Flowers of the Past

“Did you see the kids?”

“They are not there, ma’am,” one of the scouting team officers reported with a shake of the head. “But the criminals have two Pokémon in custody. They match RotomDex’s descriptions.”

“You think they took the kids somewhere else?” Kukui asked.

“Wherever they are, we’ll figure it out,” Officer Jenny reassured him, before turning to her team. “We’ll do Moon formation. Try to stay out of sight until you are given the signal.”

As the police force got into position, Kukui and his small group of students stood behind waiting anxiously. They had been guided by Rotom to the place where he was separated from Ash and the others, and Officer Jenny had sent her scouts over to survey the area. Now it was time to act but yet again they were asked to wait.

“Is this really all we can do?” Lillie wondered outloud.

“Part of a good strategy is knowing when to sit one out,” Professor Kukui explained. “It might not look like you are doing much to help, but you’ll have your turn when it matters.”

Letting his students think about that, Kukui turned away from them and allowed himself to frown. The purpose of his words had not only been to cheer them up; he hoped he was wrong, but something told him, their friends would need their emotional support when the time came. That was a worrying thought.  He didn’t know in what shape they would find them, but he hoped both Ash and Mallow weren’t scarred too deeply from this whole ordeal.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Ash froze. Their surroundings were overlapped by the decaying chamber inside the Tree of Beginning. Everything was just as he remembered. The walls and crystals that surrounded the memory had turned from healthy blue to an angry orange color; some of them already deteriorating in an oxidizing fashion. But what made his breath get caught in his throat was the people within the memory. Just a few steps away, a younger version of himself was looking around in worry. Kid was there too, carrying a sick Mew on her arms. Then, his sight stumbled on Lucario. There he was. Alive and well, even if clearly upset.

“W-What’s going on?!” Serena’s exclamation got him back to reality, reminding him this was just a past memory.

“Look! There's Ash! But he is also here!” Bonnie sounded more excited than worried about their situation now.

Clemont was the first to figure it out at seeing how young the second Ash looked in comparison to theirs. “Is this… some sort of recording from the past?”

“Nice observation,” Xerosic praised just a few steps away from his leader. “Couldn't expect less from the only person who has managed to beat me twice.”

“That’s right! And he can beat you again!” Bonnie exclaimed heatedly.

“Is that true? Are we seeing something that already happened?” Mallow asked in wonderment.

“Ash?”

Serena’s worried whisper got Kiawe’s attention, noticing her gaze was entirely in their friend.

Ash didn’t seem to have acknowledged their conversation, being too focus on the events unfolding before them. They couldn’t quite see his expression, since his cap was shadowing his eyes. Yet they felt dread at what they could see. His mouth had form a thin line; jaw clenched. And even without looking at his face, it was clear Ash was upset by his tense posture and his trembling hands. Something was definitely wrong.

 

.:oOo:.

 

“Pi Pikachu!”

Mewtwo nodded at the thankful words, after he had broken the Pokémon’s bindings. He surveyed the area full of unconscious humans and Pokémon one last time before turning to the group he had just rescued.

 _“So you were separated from your trainers,”_ he deducted.

As he received affirmative nods from the group, Slowking was next to speak. “I’m afraid the children were taken to the ruins by the volcano,” he said.

_“Then we don’t have time to lose. That place is not safe for humans…”_

With no objections, they followed the Psychic type through the forest just as Celosia was staggering back to her feet and look around.

“Bunch of weaklings…” she criticized, barely able to stay conscious herself.

“Tch… who was that Pokémon anyway?” Aliana asked beside her to no one in particular.

“Whoever that was… we need to alert the Director about it.”

“And how do you suppose we do that?” Aliana asked, showing a broken Holocaster in her hand.

 

.:oOo:.

 

Greninja was momentarily distracted from his connection with Ash by the sound of battle right in front of him. He and Luxray were about to be taken to one of Team Flare’s ships when a bunch of humans cladded in blue uniforms attacked the small group of grunts. The surprise assault didn’t last more than a few minutes and before he knew it, he had been released with all the criminals apprehended.

“Good job everyone,” a female police officer that he recognized as Officer Jenny, congratulated her team before turning to look at the grunts. “Now it’s time you speak.”

“You both seem to be in good shape,” his attention shifted towards the man in the lab coat who suddenly addressed him; Professor Kukui, if Ash’s memory served right. “Still I would like to know if you are feeling okay.”

He and Luxray answered with equal nods of the head.

“T-This is a Greninja, right?” a small voice asked from beside the Professor. “It looks very different from the books, though…”

That’s when Greninja noticed the three kids that were staring at him; one of which was looking at him with an awestruck expression and eyes starting to sparkle. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly at the water type trainer’s face, for some reason feeling relief he already owned a Poké Ball.

“You are correct, Lillie,” Kukui confirmed, switching into teacher mode. “This is actually one of Ash’s Pokémon, and the reason why he looks different-”

“Bzzt! Allow me, Professor!” Rotom was fast to interrupt as he started playing a recording of Greninja’s transformation, causing Lana’s face to shine even brighter. “His current shape could be compared to that of a Mega Evolution, except there are no records of any Greninja being able to Mega Evolve as of now. What makes this form even more unique is the fact that there are no stones involved in it. In fact, this goes against all logic! Why does it happen?! Why do Ash and his Pokémon keep breaking the natural rules of everything?! Does not compute, does not compute…”

“I think Rotom is broken…” the smallest of the group deadpanned.

Professor Kukui just shook his head at the sentient PokéDex’s antics, before a roar from above caught his attention to a very familiar Charizard descending in the clearing.

“Isn’t that-?”

“Kiawe’s,” Kukui confirmed. “Can you tell what he is saying, Rotom?”

The new arrival was enough to get Rotom back on track and he dutifully translated. “He says Tapu Koko and two others are under the criminal organization custody not too far from here.”

“I’ll deploy a rescue team,” Officer Jenny announced. “The rest of us will go towards the volcano and search for the kids.”

As they were preparing, Greninja checked on his trainer again, and was startled at being suddenly rushed by overwhelming feelings of sorrow and regret. Those feelings were not by any means alien for his trainer, but he had never felt them this strongly. He tried to calm him down by letting himself known through their bond, but Ash didn’t seem to be conscious of it. Greninja frowned. He couldn’t wait for the humans. His trainer needed him now. With a croak as the only warning, he jumped to the trees and made his way towards Ash’s presence. Luxray was fast to catch on and followed him without question.

“What? Where are Greninja and Luxray going?”

Kukui frowned, before moving as well. “Let’s go after them…”

“Take charge, Charlie!” Officer Jenny yelled as she and a small group of officer followed.

.:oOo:.

 

Discovering that Ash had the ability to use Aura was a shock, but actually seeing him using it, even if it was through a past memory, was something else entirely. Clemont kept watching attentively as both the Ash from the past and the Lucario were attempting to help Mew by combining their Aura into one big sphere that surrounded the smaller Pokémon. Just looking at its reddish face and tired expression, it was obvious the little one was really sick. And by Lysandre’s explanation of what Aura was, Clemont deducted that what they were doing was actually transferring life to it in order to heal it.

A quick look back at their Ash got Clemont uneasy; suspicion creeping in the back of his head. Ash was gazing at the Lucario with an unreadable expression unable to even blink. Clemont turned to look back at the scene noticing how both their Aura started manifesting itself in a faint glow that surrounded their entire bodies, sending surges of energy in the form of electricity through them; their concentrated expressions transforming in grimaces of pain. Where they… literally giving up their life for Mew? Clemont shook his head. It was obvious Ash was fine after that, but…

“Something's not right…” Clemont murmured.

The memory progressed with Lucario taking the burden all for himself by pushing younger Ash out of the way and releasing a burst of Aura in one last effort to heal Mew. Things had apparently worked out, yet Ash’s demeanor seemed to imply otherwise.

And of course, Ash knew everything had turn out okay in the end, but he sometimes still wondered if he could have done more to save Lucario from his fate. Losing a friend was never easy to deal with, no matter how at peace they were in their final moments. And he wasn’t confident enough in being able to bear seeing it all happening again.

He felt somehow relieved when the memory started to vanish, but the reminder of the second flower made him look at it uneasily.

Just then, a tremor shook the ancient structure they were currently in just a few seconds before Xerosic’s Holocaster started ringing.

“What is it?” the scientist answered a bit irritated.

“Xerosic! An unknown Pokémon just came out of nowhere and attacked the camp!” a very agitated Bryony started explaining. “We need backup!”

“Call Celosia then. We are just about to start and can’t be interrupted.”

“Listen!” she snapped. “Both Celosia and Aliana are unreachable! If we don’t stop it now, it could very much ruin our whole operation.”

“Direct the camera at it,” Lysander ordered.

She did as told and the hologram projected a purple bipedal Pokémon with a long tail throwing a Shadow Ball at her Bisharp with such force, that even with its natural resistance, the steel type was sent flying and skidded a few meters when hitting ground. Lysander’s face looked stoic but Xerosic was starting to sweat; his face now forming a frown.

“Wow… who is that Pokémon?” Bonnie asked in awe.

“Mewtwo…” Ash murmured to himself.

The obvious recognition in Ash’s voice made Lysandre turn around in thought before addressing the woman again.

“We can’t have it finding its way to the volcano before we break the seal. Stall it as much as you can,” then he turned behind the kids, were his other admin had been patiently waiting. “Mable, take your team and prepare for its arrival. Last line of defense. Send the rest to Bryony.”

“Yes, sir.”

With the order given, he turned back to the kids. “It seems we won’t have time to see the next memory… A shame really. This one is not of any use to us, but I thought young Ash here would have liked to see his friend one last time before his final moments.”

Ash’s flinch didn’t go unnoticed and Clemont's mind ran wild with the implications.

“Wh-what do you mean? Everything was okay, wasn't it? They saved the little white Pokémon,” Bonnie commented with uncertainty.

Clemont's expression went grim. “It's just as the girl in the memory said… using their Aura that way is the same as giving up their life energy…”

Serena gasped in horrified realization. “D-Does… Does that mean… Lucario didn't make it?” She asked in a low tone, hoping to be wrong.

Ash looked down as his eyes suddenly glistened; his only answer was a negative shake of the head, not trusting his voice.

Kiawe gritted his teeth at that, suddenly feeling a heavy void in his stomach. Ash was obviously suffering from survivor’s guilt and this guy was just casually throwing the memory back at his face as if he was making him a favor? He didn’t remember the last time he had felt like punching someone in the face so badly.  

Lysandre regarded the kids for a second before another tremor shook the ruins. “Bring the boy to the chamber,” he ordered as he walked ahead.

With a nod of the head from Xerosic, the Malamar complied and a surprised exclamation from his right made Kiawe turn back to Ash, finding he was levitating again, completely immobilized with Malamar’s Psychic attack.

“You put him down, you!” Bonnie yelled as she continued to struggle with the bindings around her torso.

“Ash!”

“Hey! Leave him alone!”

“What do we do!?”

“Wait!”

The kids’ protests fell to deaf ears, and they were soon left behind and alone.

 

.:oOo:.

 

“What’s with this little guy? Is it even alive?”

“Leave that Pokémon alone, will you? We are not to interact with them. Just make sure they stay put.”

The grunt took one last look at the obviously sleeping Rowlet in their custody before listening to his female partner. Not that the three Pokémon they were assigned to look after could do anything to retaliate. Still, he knew better than to get near the imposing turtle like Pokémon or the one that somehow could still throw electric attacks at close range.

He yawned and checked the time… it was going to be a long night; or so he thought until a roar from above got all the grunts in high alert.

“What was-?“

“Kokooo!”

The first attack came without a warning, and soon enough, chaos broke loose. 

 

.:oOo:.

 

“Let go of me!” Ash grunted unable to break free from the psychic power that kept him still.

They had taken him deeper within the volcano’s temple, into a chamber full of bright red carvings. A strange machine, no doubt just recently installed by these people, was resting right beside a shiny red crystal.

“Strap the boy to the machine,” Xerosic ordered a pair of scientist. “We are starting as soon as that is done.”

“If you think I’ll be willingly helping you, you better think again!” Ash yelled even as the Malamar had placed him on a platform just beside the machine, not releasing its power around him yet.

Two scientists came forward and wrapped two more metal rings around his arms and torso, just above and below the energy ring that was already restraining him.

“Silly boy, the device you are being strapped onto is not just for show, you know?”

Ash seemed to not be listening now, struggling against the new bindings just as the scientist made room for an energy field to rise around the child all the way to the ceiling.

“Believe me when I say that I know you well enough to understand that you would stubbornly refused to help our noble cause,” Lysandre commented with a frown. “You left that clear when you and your Greninja rejected our mental control by sheer will.”

“All set, Director.”

“Start it.”

A low humming sound followed as the machine started up and the extra rings went bright. Ash stopped struggling at this, looking around wearily, not really understanding what the thing was supposed to do. It took just a couple of seconds for him to finally feel it... It was a familiar sensation yet somehow alien. The memory of when he was transferring his Aura to Mew came back to his mind, but this time it felt different. Wrong. Like his body was fighting to keep its energy inside but was losing the battle to an unknown force. He grunted trying to resist the pull, unable to stop his Aura from materializing around him in a faint bluish light, giving him the impression of being glowing himself.

Lysandre watched with a smile forming. “You truly are a remarkable young man. Though it's a shame you are unable to see things our way.”

“Wh-what is going on?! I can't…”

“This device is designed to absorb the Aura energy out of you as if you yourself were willingly ordering it to do so,” Xerosic explained.

“What?! You can't do that!”

“There is no way to stop the process now, kid,” the scientist seemed amused at his objection. “Soon, all your Aura will be transferred to the seal… It should be enough to break it and set Fenriar free.”


	12. Race Against Time

As they ran through the forest, Professor Kukui paid closed attention to the Greninja they were following. Even if it didn't stop at any time, he had notice how it was looking progressively more tired. With a hand over the chest area as it ran, and a grimace on its face that could have been easily mistaken for a focus glare to someone who wasn't really observing, the Greninja continued ahead, dismissing the worried growls from the Luxray running beside it.

He had made a quick check up on both Pokémon, so Kukui couldn't understand the reason for the Greninja's strange behavior. Something told him he should have known the answer, but he just couldn't place it. Deciding to recap what he had gather, his mind went back to the video call he had that morning, trying to recall everything regarding the water type. That's when it came.

' _There were times during battles when Ash would be able to feel what Greninja was feeling.'_

That kid Clemont had been the one to explain it. He hadn't quite understood what he meant then, but now he had this crazy idea that maybe what Clemont was referring to as 'able to feel' was not limited only to an emotional level. And if that was true, the oddity could very much be presenting itself physically both ways… Kukui had never thought of the day when he would have hope so strongly that one of his theories was wrong.

.:oOo:.

"Get ready to surround the enemy! We have no knowledge of the nature of its abilities so don't rush ahead and wait for my signal," Mable barked orders left and right, knowing the new threat was approaching. And judging by how near the turmoil was sounding, it was coming faster than anticipated. "And you, bunch of brats, shut your mouths already!"

The kids under her custody had been nothing but noisy. Yelling at her team to let them go and to bring their friend back. They shouldn't even bother. They were not going anywhere until Fenriar was finally set free.

"Do you really expect us to just sit quietly and wait for you to cause the end of the world?!" Serena yelled in anger.

"News flash, girly. You are all prisoners and can't do anything to stop us. So yeah I expect you to stay still until we are _done_ with your friend," that last part she said on purpose, satisfyingly managing to reel up the kids despite her aversion to their noisy protests.

"You horrible people!" Bonnie yelled. "Just you wait! Even if Fenriar is released, Ash will stop you!"

Mable regarded the smaller girl with a serious expression as if to contemplate her answer before speaking a lot more subdued. "He is more than welcome to try, if he survives the process."

That got all of them to quiet down with shocked expressions.

"What… do you mean?" Mallow asked quietly, not really sure she wanted to know.

"When Lysandre explained how only an Aura Guardian could break the seal by transferring Aura into it…" Clemont started the thought.

"You want him to use his Aura just like he did with that Lucario," Kiawe concluded.

"But, if transferring your Aura that way is the same as depleting your life force…" Serena didn't look anywhere but the ground. "W-What's going to happen to him?"

"Finally you get it. Once we release Fenriar into the world, your friend will be no more," Mable explained.

"You are lying!" Bonnie cried out; angry tears already forming on her eyes. "Ash is strong! Whatever happens, he'll get through and save everyone!"

"B-Bonnie…" Clemont whispered, not really knowing what to say to console his upset sister.

Any further conversation was cut short as the farthest wall from their position crumbled in an explosion of rocks and debris. From within the new whole emerged several Pokémon looking ready to tear everything down.

"They didn't use the entrance!" Mable shouted in aggravation. "Everyone change positions! Don't let them advance from this room!"

.:oOo:.

Kukui had started to have second thoughts about his initial idea of bringing his class to the island. They could clearly hear the sound of battle as they got deeper into the ruins. And even if they hadn't encountered any conflicts so far, being greeted by a large group of seemingly unconscious criminals and Pokémon, all scattered through the ruin's entrance like ragdolls, wasn't exactly a sight he would have liked for any of the kids to witness. He was somehow glad the Greninja hadn't stop at the scene and just went through the next room, focused on reaching its trainer. Officer Jenny barely had time to divide her team again so that a few were left behind to check the area and apprehend the suspects.

"I would like to know what caused the criminals to end up in that condition," one of the officers voiced.

"Seems like something else got here before us…" another one commented.

Officer Jenny nodded. "Let's just hope it is on our side."

.:oOo:.

Maple looked up nervously, finding the one responsible for half her team being thrown through the air into the opposite side of the room. The unknown Pokémon was even more intimidating up close.

" _Release the human children immediately,"_ it ordered with a cold edge to its telepathic voice.

Growling under her breath, she stood tall and turned to the small group of grunts that hadn't been knocked out yet. "Do not stand down! We must buy as much time as we can!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Mewtwo's only reaction was a chilling frown.

"I believe Mewtwo can take care of the situation, Pikachu," Slowking advised. "We should concentrate in releasing the children from those rings."

"Pika!" with a salute, Pikachu went over to the group and looked around. "Pikapi?"

"Ash was taken further into the ruins," Serena explained when noticing his confused face. "We need to hurry and help him out!"

Pikachu nodded in acknowledgment and, having Clemont nearest to him, threw an Iron Tail attack against the boy's restrains, causing the energy to disintegrate.

"Thank you!" Clemont said just as the electric mouse went for Kiawe's next...

"Bounsweat! You found us!" Mallow exclaimed; her little grass type jumping from Braixen's head into Mallow's lap with happy tears.

"Are you all okay, Braixen?"

"Braixen-brai!" she nodded back.

"Ah! Watch out!"

Just as Bonnie yelled the warning, two blue blurs stepped in front of them and threw a combined attack made out of water and electricity that blocked a stray dark attack.

"Luxray!" Clemont beamed.

"Thanks, Greninja!" Serena voiced.

Both Pokémon stood on guard, protecting the children as the room was filled with blue uniforms, followed by a very tired Professor and his anxious students. Seeing the situation was now under control, Mewtwo stepped back to let the police force work on arresting the fallen villains.

"Professor Kukui!"

Said professor looked up from his hunched position at Mallow's call. The relief at seeing her seemingly unharmed was evident in his face. He did a quick check around; rapidly noticing Ash was still missing. But then he stared. There was a powerful looking Pokémon levitating beside the children, all looking at the Professor as if he was the rare sight of the picture.

Then came the children behind him, who as soon as they saw their friends, ran towards them with exclamations of relief.

.:oOo:.

"How long is this supposed to take?" Lysandre wondered; sounding more curious than impatient; just as Ash let out a frustrated growl, fighting even harder to keep his life force where it belonged.

"It's hard to say. He's fighting the transfer," Xerosic explained.

"T-There is n-no way I'll let you d-destroy the world, Lysandre!" Ash managed to grit out.

"This is an interesting development," Xerosic commented in thought. "Activate the magnets and get him nearer to the seal."

Lysander watch on as the scientist under his second in command reached for the controls and activated the rings' second function. As it happened, a second force pulled the child off the ground, causing him to go off balance in confusion and breaking his concentration for a second.

"Should that help?"

Xerosic turned to look at his leader and nodded. "Establishing a connection through close proximity, the seal can act as a conductor that allows for the transferred energy to flow a lot more naturally."

Through his confusion Ash barely managed to suppress the vertigo that invaded him the moment his feet stop touching the ground. And before he could understand what the criminals were planning, he already had the crystal right in front of him. He gasped, now feeling the overwhelming power emanating from within the seal pressing down on him. It pulsed angrily, sending enraging thoughts of vengeance and sorrowful despair into his mind; almost consuming his own thoughts, but he shook his head trying to protect himself by rejecting those feelings so unlike his very own. If his past experiences with being possessed had taught him anything, it was that the more you focus on who you truly were and what was real to you, the harder it was for the invader's mind to control you.

_Strong Aura… just like theirs…_

"H-Huh?"

Ash looked at the crystal warily. That hadn't been a voice talking. Nor a telepathic communication. Just a thought imprinting into his mind.

_Betrayed… Release… Revenge… Freedom…_

Ash's breath hitched for a second, as the pull turned more aggressive and he felt as if the little control he had over his own energy had been whipped and overruled. He found himself consumed by excruciating pain, feeling like his very essence was being forcefully ripped out of his chest. And he screamed.

Not a stranger to it, Lysandre paid little mind to the young trainer's sudden screams, being too enthralled in the concentrated mass of pure Aura energy that started to form right in front of its rightful owner and around the seal.

.:oOo:.

"Well done everyone, we have them almost all," Officer Jenny anouced.

Mable snorted even as she was handcuffed. "Celebrate all you want. I care not of how you spend these last hours…"

"L-Last hours?" Sophocles gulped in sudden nervousness.

"What do you mean by that?" Professor Kukui asked, the dread he was feeling in the pit of the stomach just getting stronger.

"The seal within the ruins!" Mallow started. "It's where Fenriar has been locked away! They want to set it free!"

"What?! Fenriar is real?!" Lillie asked in bewilderment.

"Who's Fenriar?" Lana asked.

"A legendary Pokémon that is said to cause the end of the world upon its release," Slowking was the one to answer. All the newly arrive looked at him in shock; the wonder of its ability to speak being overshadowed by the urgency of the situation.

"But that's not… how are they planning to do that?" Lillie wondered in obvious confusion.

"They want to use Ash's aura to break the seal!" Clemont exclaimed.

"What?" Kukui didn't quite get it, but judging by Lillie's paling reaction, he could tell it was really bad news.

"But for that to work Ash must be a user of-"

"Pi?! Pika Pikachu!" The sudden exclamation caught their attention towards Ash's Pokémon. Greninja had started to tremble with his eyes tightly shut as if he was in great pain.

"Greninja! Is that-?" before Clemont could finish his question, the water Pokémon release a painful cry as if whatever had been hurting him had just gotten worst.

The episode lasted a few seconds before he was reverted to his normal form and left panting. Whatever had caused the pain had strained the connection; sweat already rolling down the Pokémon's forehead. When he finally opened his eyes, his pupils were completely contracted in pure terror.

"Is-s it hurt?" Lana asked in worry.

"That… wasn't Greninja's pain, was it?" Kiawe murmured almost in shock.

Greninja immediately tried to reconnect to his trainer and sense where he was. Feeling a numbed version of the pain that made him revert his transformation he bolted out of the chamber.

"Wait, Greninja! We are going too!" Bonnie yelled kicking the air as if that would help her get rid of the bindings.

"Clemont! Don't worry about us! Go after him!" Serena exclaimed, almost pleadingly. "You have to help, Ash!"

"Right!" with a nod, he and Luxray went after Greninja.

"I'll go too!" not even thinking it twice, Kiawe followed close behind.

Without a word, Mewtwo levitated away.

"Wait!" Professor Kukui was fast to follow after them, trusting Officer Jenny to take care of the rest.

Pikachu lingered behind obviously conflicted on what to do.

"You go too, Pikachu," Serena ordered, startling him. "Ash needs you more. We'll find another way to get free."

Pikachu nodded in determination and ran after the group.

.:oOo:.

Ash felt himself slipping, unable to keep up with the intensity of the pain he was now in. He barely heard, Lysandre talking to him again.

"Rest assured. Your sacrifice won't be in vain…"

His eyes turned unfocused even as he tried to stay conscious; the effort to stall the energy being too much for him. He didn't even noticed when his surroundings had changed into the foggy void he was suddenly in. Looking around for clues of where he was, he saw a blurry shape approaching; its tall posture and reddish eyes giving it a very imposing look. Then the fog dissipated around it and he finally saw it. A beast so dark it gave the impression of being formed of dark aura instead of fur, and a glare so intense it made him freeze in place.

"F… Fenriar…" even if just a whisper, the imposing wolf-like beast seemed to have heard him, turning its glare towards him.

Ash tensed, wondering if he could somehow communicate with it, but before reaching a decision, the beast threw its head backwards and let go a haunting howl that sent shivers down the trainer's spine. It was so full of emotional agony, Ash almost felt like crying, but the empathy was replaced by fear when he realized what the beast was really doing. Just between its shoulder blades, a great mass of energy had been formed and thrown to the air, where it exploded in dozens of Shadow Balls that came raining down everywhere around them.

Ash knew better than to stay still any longer and ran for cover.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that last part was not too confusing. If it was, it will be explained later on.
> 
> And I don't know if it's because I'm falling asleep on the keyboard right now, but I found this chapter lacking; so, sorry if it is underwhelming… I just hope I didn't write anything weird...


	13. A Past Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is where I start noticing who I’ve missed through the story. (Okay one I noticed a lot earlier, but just couldn’t find how to get them back in the story until now) Worry not though! It will be explained. (Yes, I found myself a good excuse to make it look more natural~)  
> Anyway! Enjoy!

The first thing Tapu Koko did when finally being released was to spin in the air with a cry before flying away at full speed. Seeing he was left behind, Rowlet chirped desperately after it and tried to catch up. The last two Pokémon looked on for a few seconds before sharing a look.

“Char?”

“Nator…” it nodded.

With an apparent agreement, Charizard took off from the ground and flew after the pair.

“And they took off,” one of the officer who saw the exchange commented.

“They didn’t even say thanks…”

“Not that you would have been able to understand them,” another remarked.

“Say, why is Turtonator not going with them?”

They all stare at the big turtle-like Pokémon, who paid them no mind and just looked ahead with a wishful expression.

“I think Turtonator is too slow to keep up. So it decided to stay behind,” one of the officers explained.

At this, the one that had asked about it, walked near the Fire type. “Hey, Tortunator! You want to help, right?”

The Pokémon looked back at him with clear confusion, so the officer continued.

“What do you say we go find your friends?” seeing Turtonator had perked up, he explained. “We may not be as fast, but we can still reach them if we follow the volcano, right?”

“Are you serious? Our orders—”

“Were to help the Pokémon, and Turtonator still needs it, so I’m technically still following orders.”

“Fine, but take two others with you.”

 

.:oOo:.

 

The last thing Ash remembered was being about to get hit by one of the Shadow Balls that were raining down over him. So he couldn't explain how he was now standing with no injury on a green patch of grass that was wildly growing over the top of a chain of mountains. With the sun setting in the horizon, the trees below were covered in golden light. But even if the view was breathtaking, Ash’s worries didn't let him linger on it. He looked around in confusion unable to find an explanation of how he had gotten there; that is, until he heard a voice behind him.

_“I am sorry Fenriar. But I could not find your siblings…”_

He turned around just as the voice’s statement was answered with a passive growl. Fenriar was there, sitting on a rock. Its form was much more defined and not as dark, giving it the appearance of a wild wolf-like Pokémon with sad yet strong eyes.

 _“Come on, don't give me that,”_ a man was standing right beside it. His blue clothing were a bit ragged and discolored from use. _“I’ll be heading east next; towards the Kalos territory. I heard rumors that your_ gloomy _sister was seen there…”_

Fenriar growled again; this time sounding reproachful; causing the man to laugh good naturedly.

_“You can hardly blame me for their descriptions of her.”_

The beast seemed to snort in resignation before standing up and giving another impatient growl.

 _“Sorry, big guy. But you know you can’t come,”_ the man said in lecture. _“We agreed that the only way to reassure those fancy stuck-ups from the council is proving to them you know how to behave. And that means staying where they told you to. Let’s not give them an excuse to send you away like they did your family.”_

As the beast turned its head away from the man, Ash could have swear that if it was possible for it, Fenriar would have been pouting in annoyed irritation at the words spoken.

 _“Yeah, I don't like them either,”_ the man agreed. _“But that’s why I’m here. Being separated doesn't mean you should stay out of contact. I’ll find them and keep you all three up to date with each other. At least until the council sees to reason and let you reunite.”_

The beast turned back and nodded, just as Ash’s surroundings started to vanish into darkness…

 

.:oOo:.

 

Lysandre observed attentively as the graphics in Xerosic’s device marked the slow but steady progress of energy flow. He frowned at seeing the seal’s pressure had barely reach a fifty percent of the energy needed, then looked back at their source of energy only to raise an eyebrow in contemplation.

Even if the young trainer was not trashing around or screaming as much, it was obvious he was still resisting by the expression on his face, set on an angry scowl, and the occasional grunt of effort escaping his lips.

“Director, we have reports that the unknown Pokémon and a couple of brats are heading this way!” one of the scientist suddenly announced.

“We might have less time than we anticipated,” Lysandre commented as he pulled out two Poké Balls.

“The boy has more control than I expected from someone with no training,” Xerosic reported. “He is somehow making the process too slow.”

“I am not surprised…” Lysandre stated as he started walking ahead. “Do something about it. I’ll buy you some more time.”

With a nod, Xerosic went to reprogram the device, while Lysandre walked calmly out of the main chamber, right in time to spot the intruders running into view. The Pikachu and Greninja, two kids with a Luxray, the guy his reports have shown as the one Ash was currently staying with, and the unknown Pokémon that had single handedly decimated half of his Team. Odds against him and all, he threw his two Poké Balls to the air, releasing Gyarados and Pyroar.

Standing up to the challenge, Clemont signaled Luxray to stand up front.

“Lysandre! Where is Ash?!” he asked angrily clenching his fists in barely controlled aggravation.

“Your friend is…” a sudden cry of pain both in front and behind him interrupted his sentence just as Greninja staggered to his knees. “—a little preoccupied at the moment,” he finished vaguely.  

Their faces blanched.

 _“Go, and help him,”_ Mewtwo levitated forward, raising his arm towards Team Flare’s leader. _“I’ll take care of this.”_

“Pipika?” Pikachu’s inquiry was answered with a shaky nod as Greninja stood back up. Seeing he was okay, Pikachu pouches sparked with electricity, ready to sprint ahead to find his trainer.

Lysandre saw their intentions and ordered Pyroar to stop them with a Flamethrower attack, but it was easily intercepted by Mewtwo, already taking his self-assigned role.

“Come on, Luxray!” Clemont was fast to follow after the retreating pair, sounding almost desperate.

Without wasting time, Professor Kukui placed a hand on Kiawe’s shoulder and shook him out of his shock. “Let’s go.”

Jumping at the sudden contact, the fire-type trainer shook his head as if to clear it before nodding with determination.

“You are quite the unusual Pokémon,” Lysandre commented casually despite the fact that all but one had slipped past him. “Who exactly are you?”

 _“That is not for you to know, human,”_ Mewtwo said glaring at him. _“It is organizations like yours that I hate the most. You endanger this world by attempting to control a power beyond that of which you can possibly comprehend.”_

“This world is already endangered by humanity’s selfishness. I merely seek to beautify it by recreating it from scratch.”

Mewtwo frowned at the answer. _“I once had that misconception. But a human child made me see the wrong of my ways…”_ the Pokémon looked over the man’s shoulder before continuing. _“To use the life of one of the few individuals I trust, in order to destroy everything they believe in, that is something I won’t allow.”_

Even if suddenly intrigued, Lysandre knew the conversation was already over and ordered another attack.  

.:oOo:.

 

Ash opened his eyes with a gasp of pain only to find himself back in the void. He knew more than wondered that what he had seen was one of Fenriar memories. Even if it was going through a tough moment in life, the Fenriar within the memory didn’t look dangerous or out of control.

Turning back to the enraged beast still howling away in angst, Ash frowned. The man in the memory was clearly an Aura adept, if the clothing was anything to go by. And he was friends with Fenriar. So, something had happened.

He had to try and reach Fenriar somehow. If he could make it listen… maybe… even if it was released into the world...

Reaching a decision, he took a deep breath to prepare himself mentally and ran forward.

 

.:oOo:.

 

They entered the chamber, only to be greeted by a group of high ranked scientists looking their way with their Pokémon in front of them already in formation. Even with more than half the organization arrested, they were still outnumbered, Kukui mildly noted.

Then there was the weird contraption those people were guarding, and as his attention turned to it, his blood ran cold. His charge and most enthusiastic student was suspended in the air, trapped inside an energy field that seemed to be sapping Ash’s life away. He didn’t seemed to be conscious, but it was obvious he was in extreme pain by the tension in his body and his expression.

A bright light beside him and the distinctive sound of Poké Balls being opened, got his attention back to Clemont who had released a Bunnelby, a Chespin and a Dedenne, all ready for a full battle.

“Xerosic! Let Ash go!” Clemont yelled.

“Ah… if it isn’t the obnoxious Gym Leader from Lumiose City,” Xerosic mentioned with an annoyed expression; causing Kiawe to send a curious look to the blond beside him. “You might have destroyed my invention back then, but I have bested you this time. There is no way to stop the process.”   

Clemont was not in the mood for banters; his only focus being in getting his friend out of their clutches. With quick commands, his team was already moving to take care of the Pokémon surrounding the area, causing the man to retaliate by sending out his Malamar and Crobat.

“Can you take him?” Kiawe asked seriously, internally berating himself for not having Turtonator with him.

“Yes, leave it to me. You go ahead and try to release Ash from that thing,” Clemont commanded in full Gym Leader mode.

Nodding his understanding, Professor Kukui turned to Ash’s Pokémon. “Pikachu! Can you guys lend us a hand?” he requested. “We need to reach that thing and get Ash out of there!”

“Pika!”

“Ninja!”

Taking that as an affirmation, both Kukui and Kiawe ran ahead, trusting the two Pokémon to cover for them as they made their way to the center of the chamber.

 

.:oOo:.

 

With Professor Kukui going ahead, Officer Jenny took quick charge and approached the group of kids with Gumshoos beside her.

“Let’s help them out, Gumshoos. Use Hyper Fang on those restrains!”

Saluting in acknowledgement, the normal type came forward and broke the rings without trouble.

“Thanks!”

“Come on! Come on! We have to go find Ash!” Bonnie practically jumped on her place with impatience.

“Hold on! You should wait here and leave the rest to us,” warned Jenny. “Even if we have arrested these people, it doesn’t mean the danger is over.”

“That Fenriar does sound like a very scary Pokémon,” Sophocles agreed with nervousness.

But Bonnie just frowned stubbornly. “I’m not leaving Ash and my brother alone!”

Serena and Mallow shared a look, and with a silent agreement they sided with Bonnie.

“We can’t just stay seated and wait!”

“Ash needs us!”

Their words seemed to give Lillie courage and she nodded. “You are right! We have waited long enough!”

“Professor Kukui told us we would get our chance, so this must be it!” Lana said already fired up.

Sophocles gulped beside them but didn’t protest.

Jenny blinked. “I’m not sure that is what Professor Kukui meant.”

A cry from behind got their attention to the room’s entrance in time to see Tapu Koko flying through, with Rowlet and Charizard following behind.

“They’ve been freed!” Serena exclaimed happily.

“That’s great!”

“They are heading to the next room.”

“Let’s go!”

Jenny jumped at that, getting her attention back to the kids, “Okay, how about I send someone in first to make sur-” …only to find she was already talking to empty space. With a sigh of frustration, she put yet another officer in change before heading out. “Let’s go after them, Gumshoos.”

 

.:oOo:.

 

Before he got too far, Ash found himself in yet a different scenery all together. He soon realized it wasn’t much different than the last memory. With the only variant being, that this one was in a different day time. Possibly late afternoon.

It didn’t take him long to find Fenriar this time. It was still seated in a rock looking at the horizon, as if waiting.

_“I heard that Tyrus has been searching for your family behind our backs…”_

Both Ash and Fenriar turned to the side, finding a different man standing quite a few steps away from the beast. Ash thought there was something off about his wary expression, but he couldn’t tell what it was.

 _“I hope you both are aware that the council does not approve of that,”_ the man continued gaining some confidence. _“There is a reason why we decided to separate you after all. And even if the Aura Guardian swears he just hopes to give you news about your siblings, no one can assure us you won’t go looking for them.”_

Fenriar snorted and look back at the horizon, apparently deciding the man was not worth its attention anymore.

 _“With that said, we’ll like to test your strength. To see if the prophecy about you three is true,”_ this got the beast attention back to the man. _“If we get prove that you are not as strong as the prophecy implies, then we’ll stop breathing on your back. And you’ll be able to go search for your siblings yourself. So, what do you say?”_

As Fenriar seemed to think about the proposal, Ash couldn’t stop the feeling of dread that formed in the pit of his stomach. Something was definitely off about that man.

 

.:oOo:.

 

The organization’s leader had given him a good challenge after the Gyarados had evolved into a form he had not seen before, but even with the odds of two against one, Mewtwo had manage to defeat both Pokémon in just a few minutes.

“You may have beaten me, but you can’t stop Fenriar now. I’m afraid you were already too late to do anything.”

Mewtwo knew better than to take the man’s words as the truth, and hurried into the chamber to see for himself, leaving the man alone in the hall.

 

.:oOo:.

 

“Did you find anything, Professor?”

Kiawe and Professor Kukui were currently in front of the device trying to figure out how to shut it down, but Kukui’s technological knowledge only went so far. The structure and coding were beyond his understanding.

“Where is Rotom when you need him?”

.:oOo:.

 

Somewhere in the forest… Rotom had gotten lost.

It had taken just a wrong turn while being distracted by a Venusaur with unusual patterns on its skin for him to lose track of the group. And now the sentient PokéDex was surrounded by more Pokémon with similar strange patterns.

Well, at least he could update his internal data…

 

.:oOo:.

 

“Rotom?”

“Being a device himself, it would be easier to hack into the system and break the execution code.”

“The exe-... What?”

“Basically it would have been easier to shut the thing down,” Kukui simplified.

“So, what now?”

“Pika-Pikachu!”

The sudden yelled was the only warning Kukui had to get out of the way before Pikachu’s tail hit the keyboard and screen with such a force it made it explode.

As it cleared, they noticed the device was shutting down.

“I guess, that works…” Kukui commented, not entirely disapproving the violent solution.

“You obnoxious brats!” Xerosic screamed somewhere behind the cloud of smoke.

With the device going off, the restraining rings opened up and Ash fell at gravity's mercy. Greninja reacted fast, jumping to catch his trainer halfway before touching ground and lowering him down to the ground, using his own arm as support to hold his trainer’s back against him.

“Pikapi!” Pikachu was right next to them; panic clear in his expression.

They barely even noticed Tapu Koko entering the chamber with a full out Brave Bird attack, sending half the enemies flying in different directions.

“Hey Ash, wake up!” Kiawe raised his hand towards him, but hesitated at seeing a faint blue light surrounding his friend.

It wasn’t long after Clemont’s team had left Xerosic’s Pokémon knocked out on one side of the room, that they came running over; Clemont kneeled beside them with clear panic in his face. “Ash! Can you hear me?! Please answer!”

He searched his best friend's face for any acknowledgement to his words, and felt like crying himself at seeing Ash’s eyes shut tight and stained with tears of pain. Besides the intermittent jolts of energy running through his body and his raspy breathing there was no reaction. Clemont clenched his teeth feeling himself trembling in both fright for his friend and rage towards the madmen who had yet again hurt them all for their own selfish purpose. He swore to himself things would not end like last time.

“Let me do a first aid checkup,” Kukui said as he crouched down. “No physical injuries that I can see, but his breathing is too shallow and he seems to be burning up.”

“D-Don’t worry, Ash,” Kiawe swallowed. “We’ll get you out of here and find you help.”

Hearing a silent croak, they looked up to Greninja who was looking down at his trainer with wide and worry eyes.

 _“You feel it too, don't you?”_ Mewtwo's voice came from behind the amphibian.

Greninja turned to him and nodded.

“W-what is it? Is there something wrong with, Ash?” It was a stupid question, Clemont knew, but somehow he felt their worries went beyond what he could physically find.

 _“There is another presence within his mind,”_ Mewtwo explained as he turned to the red sphere. _“Most likely the one sealed away has found it's way into Ash’s psyche. It's trying to use his body as an alternate exit since the seal is still resisting.”_

“W-What?!”

“Are you saying… it's trying to take control of his body?!”

Mewtwo nodded. _“It has yet to realize though, that at the stage his energy is now, there is a very slim chance for them to survive.”_

Clemont and Kiawe visibly flinched.

“Y-You are not serious…”

“Ash can overcome this. He always does!”

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Kukui asked gravely.

 _“Too much of his life force has been taken away,”_ Mewtwo lower his head. _“I’m afraid he will end up suffering the same fate as the Aura Guardian who sealed the beast away.”_

Greninja growled his disagreement, not about to let his trainer die. Mewtwo met his glare with a calculating gaze for a few seconds before nodding.

 _“You are right. We can't give up just yet,”_ he conceded. _“He has done so much for me in the past, it is only natural I shall repay him.”_

Clemont watched the exchange in silence, wondering not for the first time if he should have been more curious about his friend's past adventures. In only these past hours he had learned a lot more about him than he had during their time traveling together.

The idea of such a powerful and independent pokemon needing help from anyone sounded far-fetched, yet here was Mewtwo, admitting to them how Ash had yet again achieved the seemingly impossible.

 _“Take my hand,”_ Mewtwo ordered the two other Pokémon. _“I’ll send our consciousness into his mind.”_

Greninja and Pikachu nodded with determination, following the instruction without hesitation.

 _“I’ll have to trust that you will keep our bodies safe while we are there,”_ he said this next to the rest of the group.

Clemont was honestly surprised at Mewtwo’s readiness to trust them, but nodded with determination.

“We’ll keep you all safe. You just concentrate on helping Ash.”

His team agreed with eagerness and no more words needed to be exchanged. Mewtwo wasted no time in placing his free hand on Ash’s forehead. A blinding light flashed at the contact and soon enough, the three Pokémon’s bodies slump slightly forward.

 


	14. The Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Had a busy weekend, so I've been trying to write this through the week.  
> As we are reaching the final chapter, I want to thank everyone who has stick around through the development of this story. I hope you've been enjoying the ride. :D  
> I believe we have one more chapter to go (If I don't misjudge this thing again, that is) before we can call this completed. So please enjoy the reading and expect the last chapter soon.

 

Ash couldn't move. As much as he wanted to stand up and continue forward, he couldn't. He felt as if he moved the wrong way, his very soul would shatter into nothing. So he stayed there, taking deep breaths and trying to keep himself conscious. That was as much as he could do to not lose his concentration and risk the last of his Aura to flee away from him. Then he felt a hand on his back.

" _You are doing very well. Please don't give up."_

As if encouraged by those words, he felt his Aura getting a bit stronger.

.:oOo:.

"Ghaaa!"

Screams in three different pitches echoed through the silent forest just as three officer fell through a hole in the ground. They had been making their way to the volcano when the ground gave in below them.

"Nator?" the Turtonator with them, stepped closer to the edge and peer over the hole with slight concern. Seeing the trap wasn't too deep, the fire type figured they wouldn't need his help to climb out of it, so he turned around and looked back at the volcano over the trees with an impatient frown.

"I knew this was a bad idea…" the officer just below the human pile complained.

.:oOo:.

"Chespin! Pin Missile!"

The attack came flying over the four Houndoom they were battling, going in an arc directed at the ground behind them.

"Ha! Where are you aiming at, kid?" One of the scientists mocked.

Clemont's answer came in the form of a smirk, as his Bunnelby dug out of the ground near his feet.

"Nice job, Bunnelby."

"Wait, what are you-?" The admin then noticed the missiles had failed to explode when hitting the ground and instead had gone through small holes that certainly haven't been there second before.

"Underground tunnels?" A female scientist guessed.

They realized too late what it meant for them as several explosions cracked the ground to pieces all around them and their Pokémon. The surprise attack was wide enough to get several of them out for the count.

"Wow…" Kiawe whispered, noting how anyone in the proximity that hadn't been hit by the explosion were dealt by Clemont's electric type Pokémon, who had taken complete advantage of the electric field Tapu Koko had provided. "He's good…"

Kukui nodded. "The guy he battled first did mention Clemont was a Gym Leader," he reasoned. Turning around to see where said scientist was after being defeated, he found him typing away on a second keyboard in desperation. Kukui wondered what used could that have when the device attached to it was no longer working, until he noticed the screen. They were graphs of energy flow. He started in realization, turning from his still unconscious student, to the crystalized seal and back… and he swore.

"What is it?" Kiawe asked in bafflement at his teacher's colorful choice of words.

"The seal is somehow still connected to Ash. We need to get him far away from it or it'll keep absorbing his energy."

"What?!" Kiawe jumped to his feet, but stopped half through his actions at seeing the three Pokémon still slumped beside his friend. "Should we actually move them while they are like this?"

"No time to check for alternatives. We have to do it."

"Nobody is going anywhere!" A voice behind them got their attention to the nearest crumbled wall, where Celosia and Ariana had jumped in from.

"It's them again!" Kiawe exclaimed in frustration.

"We found your strange talking PokéDex, in the forest," Aliana pointed out as she lifted said device in her hand. "We thought you might want it back…"

"Professor!" Rotom exclaimed with impossible tears of panic cascading down his metallic case.

"Stay right where you are or we'll skip the theory and figure out how this thing works the practical way," Celosia threatened them.

Professor Kukui gritted his teeth but didn't make any moves besides kneeling back down to his original position. Their timing couldn't have been worse.

.:oOo:.

The sound of battle and the intensity of the consequential tremors incremented as they entered a long hallway that connected to the main chamber. Sophocles took a deep breath, trying to brave up. He had run ahead with the rest of the group truly willing to help, but the techno-geek wasn't sure what he could really do. Not even the incident in the mall had made him feel this horribly terrified. He was just happy Officer Jenny had decided to follow them. Surely if things went south, she would know what to do.

"They got Rotom," Mallow whispered in apprehension from her position behind the chamber's doorway.

"What do we do?" Lana asked, turning to Officer Jenny for instructions.

"I'll appreciate if you stay put for the remaining of our time before Fenriar is released," a deep voice answered for her from behind the group.

With a flinch of surprise, they turned around slowly finding the man responsible for the whole odyssey standing tall as collected as ever.

"Lysandre!" Serena exclaimed in surprised recognition as Braixen jumped ahead in front of her trainer.

"You better stop what you people are doing and let everyone go!" Bonny threaten the man.

"Lysandre, you are under arrest! Put your hands in the air and stay were you are," Officer Jenny ordered as Gumshoos followed her movements with a harsh expression.

The man only reaction was to smile before doing as he was told. "If that puts your minds at ease," he relented. "But as I explained to your allies before, you are too late to stop our plan…"

.:oOo:.

The three Pokémon opened their eyes simultaneously as their conscience woke up inside an immense space of pure darkness.

"Gren-ni-nija?"

" _We are at the right place,"_ Mewtwo nodded.  _"The emptiness is just a result of the low reserves of Aura."_

The ground beneath them suddenly shook violently as the sound of a grieving howl resounded all around them. That's when they saw it. A beast as dark as the night was crouching down building up a dark energy attack just in front of a considerably smaller figure.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu didn't wait and sprinted away towards his identified trainer, avoiding raining Shadow Balls left and right as he went.

Greninja and Mewtwo had rushed after the electric type almost instantly. With so many energy balls falling all around them, Mewtwo had to wonder how the human child was still standing, until he noticed what was happening. It wasn't just luck. There was a thin shield of Aura around Ash that was only visible whenever one of the Shadow Balls managed to hit it.

"Pikapi! Pipika?" Pikachu skid to a stop right in front of his trainer trying to gain his attention, but there was something odd about him. His face was devoid of any expression and his eyes were distant and unfocused with a slight Aura glow dancing around them.

" _He is having a linked vision,"_  Mewtwo informed the other two.  _"It seems he's been trying to make contact with Fenriar."_

Both of Ash's Pokémon shared a worried look.

" _He won't respond until the vision is over. The only thing we can do is try to keep him safe while it happens."_

With nods of agreement, they turned around to faced Fenriar.

.:oOo:.

Ash could feel it. When Fenriar was offered a chance to prove it was not vent on destroying anything, it expected many things. Tests of its worth as a being with honor, tasks in behalf of someone in need to prove its usefulness, maybe even just a plain yes or no based interview to get to know it's psyche... but this… this felt suspiciously wrong somehow…

" _How effective are these restrains of yours?"_ one of the council men was asking a woman in robes who called herself a witch; an Aromatisse standing beside her.

" _They've been tested to restrain a full herd of fifty eight Tauros,"_  the mysterious woman answered.  _"The chains did not have a single scratch."_

" _Very well, attach them to Fenriar's legs."_

Seeing the woman approaching cautiously, Fenriar growled at her, causing the woman to step back.

" _Have you perhaps change your mind?"_  the man from before spoke up.  _"Surely your desire to reunite with your siblings must not be strong enough, if you are no willing to do the simplest of tests…"_

Fenriar sat back down at the man's words, not wanting to lose the opportunity to see them both again.

" _Proceed,"_  the man ordered the woman before redirecting his attention to Fenriar. " _You don't have to do anything really. This is only a test of strength. If you are not able to break from these bonds, then it will put our minds at ease about you. You'll be able to go free then."_

Fenriar, somewhat reluctant, allowed the woman to tie the chain around its legs and tested it by pulling them slightly.

" _Fenriar! Are you here, bud?"_  the voice coming from the trees, caused several of the humans to freeze in apprehension.

" _Tyrus returned a lot earlier than anticipated,"_  one of the men reproached.

" _Start it now, witch!"_  the leader ordered.

The woman conceded, pulling out a dark red crystal from within her robes and called Aomatisse forward just as Tyrus reached the clearing.  _"Use your magical Fairy Wind to cover the beast!"_

" _What's going on here?!"_

Fenriar's sudden roar got their attention to the beast, which had hit the ground staggering in pain.

" _What are you doing!?"_  Tyrus ran forward and hit the woman's hand, making her drop the crystal. Taking a better look at it, he turned to the men in disbelief.  _"That is a sealing crystal…"_

" _Don't interfere, Tyrus. This beast is dangerous. It is best if we seal it away before it decides to go against us."_

" _Decides to go against you?! You are the ones who are betraying its trust!"_

The cracking sound of bending metal got their attention back to the Dark beast in time to see the chains breaking into pieces that went flying all around it.

" _It is loose! What are you doing, woman?"_

" _The beast is too strong; it needs to be weakened first!"_

" _Then weaken it!"_  the man cried.  _"The fairies' disarming voices worked on its sister, I have no doubt Fenriar will be even more affected."_

At the mention of its sister, Fenriar saw red. Forgetting all about self-restraint, it started building up energy in between its shoulder blades…

" _Fenriar, stop!"_

As the memory started to vanish, Ash was still able to hear loose pieces of conversation that were no doubt the result of the events he had just witnessed.

" _Don't you see what we were against all this time?! We should have disposed of this beast when we had the chance!"_

" _If there is anyone to blame for Fenriar's anger, it's your own stupidity!"_  Tyrus voice exclaimed in outrage.  _"You were so engrossed in a supposed prophecy that in your desperate attempt at preventing it, you caused your council's own downfall!"_

" _Don't you dare talk down to us like that!"_ the man yelled back  _"You exist to serve us! Now do your duty as an Aura Guardian and dispose of that monster!"_

" _Fenriar! Listen to me!"_  Tyrus was heard again.  _"You have to calm down!"_

A roar was his only answer and Ash could practically feel the overwhelming thoughts of anger and betrayal trying to consume his mind again.

" _I'm sorry, friend… This is the only thing I can do…"_

.:oOo:.

_As he opened his eyes again, Ash knew he was in another memory. But this one was different. He was standing in a dark room, right in front of a girl dressed all in black. He couldn't see her face, having her head bowed to the floor._

" _Are you Haidee?" he felt himself talk. But the voice that came out of his lips was not his own._

_There was a reaction from the girl, who finally looked up towards him, and Ash shivered. Her face was pale and her eyes were unfocused as if her thoughts were in a faraway place._

" _Haidee… My name is Tyrus," Ash's mouth continued. "Do you remember Fenriar?"_

" _Fen… riar…" the girl finally spoke; her voice cracking as if in disuse._

" _That's right!"_

_She stared for a second before shaking her head and turning away from him and back to the ground. "You are… You are not the one…"_

Ash blinked in confusion as the images in front of him dissolved into the same mountains he had seen in the first memory.

"That was Fenriar's sister…" a voice behind him made him jump and turn around, finding the now familiar face of Tyrus looking straight at him.

"That girl?"

The man nodded in affirmation. "She was in Kalos as the rumors said… but… she was already…" Tyrus bowed his head in regret. "I never got to tell Fenriar any of this…"

"Was she… hurt by the council?" Ash asked with hesitation.

Tyrus regarded the question before giving him a sad smile. "You are young… but you have live through a lot yourself… surely you understand that there are really bad people out there."

Ash didn't answer, but he understood. "Fenriar thinks you betrayed it…" he said instead. "All you were trying to do was protect it from those people, weren't you? So why…?"

"When I met Haidee… I knew the council was not going to change their minds about the siblings. They were so afraid of the prophecy, that they were willing to break the siblings apart starting with the younger to get the oldest to do as they said… when that didn't seem to work, they contacted a witch to help them seal Fenriar."

"But you sealed it instead," Ash pointed out.

"Witches in my times had a particular method of sealing that could harm whoever they targeted permanently… the council of course didn't care. Had they fail to do it the first time, they would have try again," Tyrus explained. "The only thing I could think of was to seal Fenriar myself using my Aura to protect it. I thought that I could at least keep it safe until I figured out another solution… but I didn't anticipate its true strength and I ended up using all of my Aura…"

Ash's eyes went wide. "Then Fenriar should know! It has been so lonely all this time, thinking his friend had done something horrible to him without reason!"

Tyrus looked back at him in slight surprise before smiling again. "You speak truth. Could you help me explain?"

Ash smiled back and nodded. "Sure thing!"

.:oOo:.

Serena was the first to run into the chamber at Lysadre's words. By then the battles were about over and she didn't have troubles finding Clemont kneeling at the center of the room with several others. She ran towards him, intending to ask where Ash was, but she found the answer as she got nearer.

"Clemont! Wh-What happened?! Is he okay?"

"We don't know… Mewtwo, Pikachu and Greninja went into his mind to try and help…"

Serena looked startled by the unknown Pokémon beside them. "Mew… two?"

"Ash! Don't give up!" Bonnie yelled having come from behind Serena and threw herself at the older boy, embracing him in a tight hug around the torso.

"Bonnie! Don't-!" Clemont started to reprimand.

"But you saw Greninja!" he did a double take when noticing his little sister was now crying. "Ash must have been in a lot of pain for Greninja to react that way!"

Clemont tensed at her words, but said nothing. He was somehow relief none of the girls arrived when he did. He didn't know how they would have reacted have they seen the real extend of their friend's pain. Clemont had never heard Ash scream like that. After seeing him enduring head-on Pokémon attacks or getting hurt without receiving much of a complaint from him, he couldn't even begin to imagine the level of pain Ash must have gotten through inside that machine. And honestly, he was scared out of his mind for him. He really hoped Mewtwo had calculated Ash's probabilities of survival wrong...

.:oOo:.

Ash woke up back in the void with another painful gasp. Feeling a sharp pull inside his chest, his knees gave away and he collapsed to the ground. He was a lot weaker than he thought… Being barely aware of others' presence around him, their panic voices sounded muffled to his ears unable to understand their meaning. When he finally looked up, it was to see a confrontation between the three Pokémon that had come to help him and Fenriar.

The wolf-like Pokémon's roars were loud and angry, but none of the three battlers flinched away, throwing their own trademarked attacks simultaneously.

"W-Wait," Ash voice came broken and low. He tried to call them again, but found he had no strength left to move.

" _This is bad…"_

Ash looked up to find a translucent figure beside him, watching the battle with a worried expression. "T-Tyrus? W-Why can't I-?"

" _We were inside my own mind for a while, there you didn't feel the fatigue. But here is a different story."_

Ash tried to stand back up but failed. Growling in both frustration and stubbornness he tried again just managing to support his weight on his arms.

Tyrus smiled beside him.  _"I'll lend you a hand…"_

.:oOo:.

Mewtwo avoided another dark attack and frowned. He had been trying to connect with Fenriar since the battle started, but it's angst feelings were so strong, Mewtwo had been pushed back every time he attempt at a mental link; the fact that it was a Dark type just making the situation more difficult. There was no choice. If he wanted to keep Ash alive, Fenriar had to be defeated…

Letting the other two Pokémon know as much, he stood back as Pikachu and Greninja combined their attacks into one.

"Stop!"

The sudden appearance of the young trainer in front of them caused the Pokémon to pause in their attack.

" _Ash, step back! It's dangerous!"_  Mewtwo yelled.

"Pi! Pika Pikachu pi!"

"Ni-ninja Gren!"

"Fenriar is not dangerous! It's just sad!" Ash yelled back, without turning away from the dark beast. He held Fenriar glare with his own; his determination shining brightly in his eyes, before a gentle smile graced his lips, puzzling the beast further. "Please listen…"

As he said his request, a translucent figure manifested itself from within his own, freezing the dark beast in sudden recognition.

" _Please calm down Fenriar. I'm sorry that I had to seal you, but it was the only way to stop the council from hurting you further. I don't expect you to forgive me, but at least try to understand…"_

Seeing Fenriar's sudden hesitation, Ash stepped up an extended a hand towards it. "I know you are sad… but I promise you, things will be better," with a resolute frown, he pushed energy into his hand. "You didn't deserve what happened to you, so I'll get you out of here."

" _Don't! You won't survive if you give up the last of your energy like that,"_ Mewtwo warned him.

Ash turned around at the expectant faces of the three Pokémon behind him and smiled. "It's fine," he reassured them. "Once out of here... Can you make sure Fenriar doesn't get into trouble for me?"

As his words registered in their heads, the blue energy in his hand expanded all around them, dissolving their forms into the blinding light.

"PIKAPI!"


	15. Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, miscalculated again… I don't know if this is good news or not, but there will definitely be an extra chapter for the things I didn't manage to fit into this one; basically an epilogue to seal any remaining plot-holes and some more interactions.  
> Anyway! Enjoy!

The same mountains, the same rock and the same sunset. All was just as back then. A content sigh beside Fenriar got its attention to the side, where Tyrus was standing, looking at the horizon.

"Just like old times…"

Fenriar looked questioningly at him, feeling confused. All that anger and sadness a dull ache in its chest as a melancholic feeling invaded it instead. It all felt like a bad dream, but Fenriar knew that was not the case. The council had tricked it. Deceived it with false promises. And then Tyrus had come... and it remembered. The Aura Guardian, who had sworn to always be there on Fenriar's side, had sealed it away. Just like the council wanted. Fenriar's trust had been turned to pieces then; the feelings of betrayal just fulling its rage.

Fenriar's confused expression turned to a scowled.

"You have every right to be angry at me," Tyrus stated. "No apology could ever repay what I made you go through… but I hope you know it all was in good will."

Fenriar considered his words for a moment before letting out an indignant snort.

"Yeah, I know I don't sound very convincing," Tyrus smiled sadly. "And I'm actually surprised you haven't tried to attack me yet."

Fenriar turned away and growled its reasons, making Tyrus blink a bit surprised.

"He did that, huh?" Tyrus said after a bit. "I should have known," he continued with a smile. "That saves me the trouble of babbling excuses, I guess."

The muffled blowing sound coming from Fenriar's mouth let Tyrus know he had managed to get the beast as close to laughing as it could get.

"Still… I'm sorry, old friend."

Fenriar turned back to the Guardian and growled reproachfully.

"What do you mean you'll forgive me by the time we see each other again?" Tyrus was the one looking indignant now. "You know I'm kind of death, right? It'll be a long time before that happens," seeing Fenriar's deadpanned expression he relented. "Right… not as much as you had to wait inside the seal. But hey, good news! The council no longer exists in this era."

They both sobered up at the thought. Tyrus petted the beast's muzzle one last time and smiled in reassurance.

"You'll be… completely free this time."

.:oOo:.

The battle had ended up in a standstill. Just as most of the scientists had been defeated, Celosia and Ariana had revealed to have captured more than just the sentient Poké Dex, pushing a couple of trapped Pokémon clones into view. Even Tapu Koko had stopped fighting, choosing to hover protectively in front of the still unconscious group instead. Rowlet was perched beside his trainer in worry and Charizard stood next to Kiawe also guarding the group.

A low beeping coming from one of Xerosic's monitor got the scientist's attention to the energy flow graphics. What he saw made him smile. Apparently the child had finally stopped resisting. His chuckles got a few of the present people's attention. Professor Kukui specially had been keeping an eye on the screens himself, so when he saw the data showing the energy flow had started to run steadily and without restrain he blanched.

"Whatever you are doing, stop!"

"Oh, you got it all wrong, Professor. This is all the kid's actions, I am merely observing results," seeing confused faces, he felt the need to elaborate further. "The only reason the Aura energy wasn't flowing steadily as it is right now, it's because the kid was stubbornly refusing to let go of it. Which means… he stopped fighting."

"What?" Kukui turned back to his student not ready to believe Ash had given up; the kid's determination was too strong for that.

The Pokémon around him suddenly jumped awake as if they had just waked from a nightmare; Pikachu practically launching himself forward to check on his trainer.

"Mewtwo, what happened!?" Clemont was fast to ask; his panic rising.

" _It's Ash! He-"_

Then came the bright light pulsing angrily around the red crystal; the intensity going progressively stronger as the crystal started to crack.

"W-What's going on!?"

"The seal is breaking!"

"Pi?" with everyone's attention on the weakened seal, only the closest to him noticed Pikachu perking up at seeing his trainer's hand twitching slightly.

"Nin-ninja?"

"Row! Rowlet!"

"H-huh?" Ash finally regained consciousness, tilting his head slightly upwards. Just that simple action felt like the hardest thing he had to do in his life.

Still clinging to him, Bonnie noticed him stirring and let out a happy cry at seeing him awake; her wordless exclamation gaining the attention of the others.

"Ash!" Serena's hands went to her chest as she made to step forward.

"You are awa- Wh-what?" Clemont's words froze.

Following his friend's gaze, Ash lifted a hand to find it was fading. He blinked at the oddity a couple of times ignoring the gasps around him; his brain having a hard time processing how wrong that was supposed to be. Human skin wasn't translucent like some Pokémon's, right?

"Pikapi!" Pikachu downright screamed in aggravation, already understanding what was happening to his trainer.

"W-what is going on? Why is Ash's hand… fading?!" Kiawe asked completely unnerved.

It wasn't just his hand, they soon noticed, the rest of his body was starting to gain a translucent appearance. Still holding his trainer tight, Greninja addressed Pikachu with a croaking question, which the little mouse answered in desperate mannerisms; small tears already forming beneath his eyes. His two teammates suddenly tensed at whatever they had been told; Greninja showing a panicked uncertainty in his face that was alien to his normally cool headed behavior and Rowlet entering into a teary and more subdued version of its usual panic mode.

A low chuckle turned everyone's attention to the chamber's entrance, where the recently detained Director stood beside Officer Jenny. "You would understand if you had seen the second memory," Lysandre commented in amusement. " _That_  is what happens when you don't have enough Aura to sustain you."

"Y-You mean, Ash is…" Lillie couldn't finish the sentence.

"Fading out of existence," Lysandre answered gravely.

Serena's train of thoughts suddenly stopped and crumbled. Her eyes went wide and lost, unable to focus, and her face had gone three tones paler. She hadn't heard right, that must have been it. Because… because that was just impossible. Ash was strong and unbeatable... and also… kind, and brave… There was no way he was… dying. Not like this!

"Serena!" Mallow barely managed to catch the honey-blonde girl as she collapsed into a mental breakdown.

Just then, the crystal broke into pieces, liberating an explosive light that blinded everyone with a flash. As the light diminished, they finally saw an imposing dark figure standing high over them. Its wolf-like features more prominently intimidating than ever. Red terrifying eyes scanned the surroundings in wary curiosity as most humans and Pokémon stood in nervous readiness should they need to fight.

"T-That's Fenriar?" Kiawe asked; sweat falling down his forehead.

"So magnificent…" Lysandre whispered to himself in astonished adoration.

Mewtwo had stepped forward, arm raised with a Shadow Ball forming, but after a few seconds of tension, he dissipated the attack and lower his hand. As if understanding his actions, Tapu Koko was next to do the same, hovering back down to the group.

" _You shall not worry about Fenriar anymore,"_  Mewtwo finally spoke.  _"He is no longer consumed by rage."_

"Impossible! The beast wouldn't have listened to you!" Xerosic exclaimed. "The negative energy coming from it was off the charts!"

Mewtwo shook his head gravely as he explained.  _"It was all Ash's doing. He is the one who managed to calm Fenriar down."_

Nobody spoke, too bewildered and hesitant to say anything. Lysandre's eyes went wide in disbelief. Just how far did this kid's strength go?

Ignoring the stares, Fenriar walked ahead towards the Psychic Pokémon and growl as in question.

" _Yes, he is here,"_  Mewtwo answered as he moved aside, looking over his shoulder.  _"But he won't last much longer."_

With another passive growl from the back of the throat, Fenriar approached the fading human child and bend its head down enough to be at hands reach; the others around him tensing in nervousness.

Taking his time to focus his gaze, Ash looked at Fenriar and smiled in relief, causing it to freeze in confusion. How could someone so young going through their last moments even found it in themselves to smile so sincerely? Its answer came in the child's next words.

"Are you feeling better, Fenriar?" Ash asked in a quiet tone; his translucent hand went to pat the beast's head as if in reassurance. "It must have been really lonely being trapped in there for so long… I'm glad you are finally free."

Fenriar's eyes glisten in gratefulness and it leaned into the child's touch before closing his eyes and concentrate.

" _You have my thanks, kiddo,"_ if he wasn't so out of it, Ash would have questioned if he was hallucinating or if Tyrus' ethereal figure was really standing there beside Fenriar, with his hand outstretched towards him.  _"We will get you back in shape… literally."_

Fenriar opened one eye to gaze at the Aura Guardian and growl as if in reproach.

" _Sorry, bad joke,"_ Tyrus admitted with a smile, not looking repentant at all.

Seconds passed before anything happened but soon enough, a dim light started to envelope them both. Feeling warm and comfortable, Ash closed his eyes and welcomed the soothing energy going through him; the action causing him to miss the moment Tyrus vanished away.

"Pi!" rubbing his tears away, Pikachu looked on a bit startled.

"Ash is shining brighter…" Bonnie said in wonderment.

"Is that… Aura?" Kiawe asked.

"I think… Fenriar is sharing its Aura with Ash," Clemont commented, adjusting his glasses over his nose.

Mewtwo nodded before explaining.  _"Somehow, Fenriar is transferring back enough Aura for Ash to recuperate."_

"So, Ash will be okay!" Bonnie exclaimed as she watched the transition with sparkling eyes.

The relief Serena felt then was too much for her and she kneeled down with a faint exclamation of happiness; tears cascading down without restrain.

Mallow, still holding her in a supporting hug, knelt beside her and smiled brightly. "What a relief, right Serena?"

Serena looked back gratefully and nodded her agreement, unable to form words for fear of releasing the knot in her throat into unstoppable sobs.

"D-Does it means… Fenriar isn't going to d-destroy anything now?" Sophocles asked, still feeling a bit nervous.

Lana frowned. "Maybe not anything we care about."

The kids beside her blinked in confusion before following her disapproving gaze to the small group of criminals at the other side of the room; their plan of taking hostages suddenly not sounding like their best idea.

" _I kindly suggest you release those Pokémon,"_ Mewtwo's calmed suggestion contrasted with the cold edge in his voice, freezing the criminals in place; the two female admins being the only ones who still showed some kind of stubborn resistance.

Lysandre on the other hand, stared as the same kid that had been dying just a few seconds ago, rose from the ground with the help of his friends and smiled reassuringly before glaring at the two admins; three legendarily powerful Pokémon backing him up from behind, ready to lend him their strength while his own team surrounded him protectively.

The man was mesmerized by the scene, somehow finding it fitting. He had yet underestimated his enemy and it had cost him. Lysandre finally closed his eyes in acceptance. If only he had gotten to meet more people like Ash…

At the midst of his defeat, the Director tried to convince himself that if there were truly more people like him, then maybe the world wasn't entirely doomed to humanity…

"Aliana, Celosia, let the hostages go," Lysander ordered. "We had been defeated."

.:oOo:.

Officer Jenny had been fast to take charge of the situation, ordering a few of her teammates to escort the children out of the ruins while the rest took care of the criminals within the chamber.

"Koko!"

"Thanks, Tapu Koko!" Jenny exclaimed as the Deity Guardian dropped a few paralyzed grunts that had tried to escape. "I think we got everything else under control. You can wait with everyone else outside if you like."

Nodding its agreement, it flew out of the volcano's ruins, finding the group of kids and Pokémon not too far away.

"Great job, everyone!" Clemont was congratulating his team, receiving excited exclamations in response; from all except one, who was having none of it... "Um… Dedenne, what's wrong?"

"Dede-denenne!" the little rodent turned his head indignantly and somehow managed to crossed his little paws to complete the look.

"I know I said you needed to get into your Poké Ball just while we teleported, but once we arrived, a lot of things happened!" Dedenne heard him, but that didn't seem to be enough of an apology, seeing as how the electric type didn't budge from his rejecting position, causing Clemont to slumped depressingly and looking close to tears. "I'm sorry!"

Deciding to play peacemaker Bonnie came forward and took Dedenne in her arms. "Don't worry, brother! I'm sure Dedenne will forgive you once you buy us some delicious honey-filled donuts!"

Dedenne seemed to think about it, then nodded his agreement with as much seriousness as a cute rodent could give.

"See?"

"I'm reduced to bribing with food…" Clemont murmured in resignation.

Bonnie laughed at him before turning to their side. "At least you are not the one taking a lecture from Pikachu."

Following his sister's gaze, Clemont winced, suddenly not feeling that bad about the resolution he reached with his own resentful Pokémon.

Just a few steps away, Kiawe and Greninja were helping Ash to sit down against a rocky wall, all while the later was patiently listening to a very aggravated Pikachu, who was squeaking reproachfully at his trainer about something only other Pokémon and possibly Ash himself; judging by his apologetic smile; could comprehend.

"I'm sorry I worried you again, bud," he said when Pikachu seemed to be done. "I just couldn't think of any other way to help."

"Pi-pika pikachu!" by his expression, Pikachu didn't agree.

"Come on, you know that was the right thing to do, right?" Ash tried to reason.

Pikachu deflated a bit, but frowned again. "Pika pika, Pikapi! Chu pikachu-pi!"

"Bzzt! You did what?!" Rotom came forward in panic, apparently done with pestering both Fenriar and Mewtwo with photos for his data recollection. His yell got the rest of the group's attention to their conversation.

"Is something wrong?" Lillie asked.

"Pikachu is just mad at me for almost dying," Ash explained sheepishly grinning her way.

"Don't say things like that sounding so cheerful!" Kiawe admonish with annoyance.

Getting the general idea of the conflict, Serena kneeled down beside the yellow mouse and smiled lightly. "I know you were upset, Pikachu. We all were. But you can't really blame Ash for what happened, can you?"

"Pika! Pikachu!" he yelled his answer with a resolute nod, making Serena blink in confusion.

"Pikachu says he surely can!" Rotom translated before getting into Ash's face. "And I agree! What were you thinking!?"

"Not you too, Rotom…" Ash said pushing the PokéDex aside. "It wasn't a big deal. After all, everything was okay at the end, right?"

He turned to look at his other two Pokémon for support, who were the only ones of his team who weren't chastising him for his actions; though Rowlet didn't really count since he was sleeping using Greninja's head as his perch.

"Gren-grenin…" Greninja's passive answer made Ash wince.

" _Pikachu is just saying what all of us think, so there is no need for our input,"_  Mewtwo explained with the same passiveness.

Knowing he wasn't going to win this one, Ash sighed with slumped shoulders, before addressing his starter again. "What can I do so you forgive me then?"

"Pi-pika, pika-pika-pikachu!"

"Yeah, you can start with that!" Rotom exclaimed his agreement. "No more suicidal rescues next time!"

"What is RotomDex talking about?" Sophocles wondered.

"Whatever it is, the conversation can continue once we are out of here," Professor Kukui interrupted, coming over after he was done talking with one of the officers. "It's too late at night to take rides out at sea for now. But we'll still need to move to the coast so we can camp there," the reason being how the adults wanted the children as far away from the arrested criminals as possible was left unsaid.

"So we can't go home until tomorrow?" Sophocles asked with disappointment; his hopeful illusion of eating warm homemade food breaking apart.

"The Pokémon we are riding home need to rest," Kukui explained. "Not to mention the open sea could be dangerous without sunlight."

Sophocles froze in fright at the prospect of being in the middle of nowhere with no lights but that of his Togedemaru.

"What kind of danger?" Bonnie asked in curiosity.

"If you are unlucky enough, you might find yourself victim of Gyarados' Dragon Rage!" Lana suddenly said in full storyteller mode; Ash perking up in recognition.

"Gyarados' Dragon Rage?" Serena asked sounding intrigued.

Lana nodded and continued. "There is a sailor's tale about a colony of Gyarados that roam the seas… when they find a ship in their way, they attack with all their fury, using a collaborative Dragon Rage attack!"

"Wow! What does it do?" Bonnie asked in eager anticipation.

To their surprise, Ash was the one who answered, falling into Lana's same wavelength. "It's a super powerful attack in which they start swimming in circles!" he began, using his hands for dramatic representation visual aid. "When they reach enough speed, they create a huge water cyclone that reaches the sky! And once it started, it can't be stopped!"

"Pika pika," Pikachu nodded sagely with arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Can't be stop? Surely there is a way to get away from it, right?" Kiawe asked, totally invested in the tale.

"No one has ever escape from one before," both Lana and Ash stated in a sinister tone.

A shiver passed down through the group as the idea of getting caught by the force of such an attack set into their minds.

"But that's not all…" Lana continued, this time getting Ash curiosity as well. "As the ships are sent spinning through the air out of control, the last thing their crews see, is Kyogre charging a hyper beam in the cyclone's direction!"

"Kyogre!?"

"Now that's terrifying!"

"B-But I don't remember that!" with so many exclamations going off at the same time, Ash's own went mostly unheard. "We must have missed it, Pikachu!"

"Pika!?"

"Wait, what?" Kiawe turned his way.

"Just joking," Lana suddenly said sticking her tongue out.

And the reaction was immediate. Everyone deflated at the same time with some of them even face-planting on the ground.

"The point is. It is too long a trip to go at this time," Kukui redirected the conversation. "So we'll have to wait until tomorrow to leave. Be sure to check you are not leaving anything behind by then."

"Ghaaa!" Kiawe's sudden yell made everyone jump and look his way. "I have yet to find Turtonator!"

.:oOo:.

Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the forest…

"Hey! Stop kicking me!"

"It's not me!"

"We'll never get down from here, if you two don't stop bickering!"

Turnonator sighed. It was the fifth time these humans fell into a trap. He understood it was hard not to fall in them when it was so dark. But calling it unavoidable when there was a colorful net waiting in the ground without anything to conceal it was really stretching it.

.:oOo:.

"Tapu-ko-pukokoo."

" _He chose to be left behind with the officers that rescued them,"_  Mewtwo helpfully translated.

"I'll go find him!" Kiawe announced. "Let's go Charizard!"

"Wait, Kiawe. I rather we don't get separated again," Professor Kukui said. "We still don't know if there are any more Team Flare goons out there."

"And with so many traps, it might be dangerous to go on your own," Clemont reasoned.

Fenriar sighed in something akin to contentment just as the Kiawe kid prattled on dramatically about how he couldn't leave his partner behind and wondering if the officers he was with were treating him well. It had been silently watching their interactions with curiosity, finding the group strangely entertaining.

"I'm glad to see they are back in good spirit," the Slowking beside it suddenly said, as they watched on.

Fenriar didn't answer, but it agreed. There was something soothing about seeing them all smiling without any worries.


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it. The final chapter of this story! I hope you find it enjoyable and… hopefully I cover all loose ends. What’s next from me is an idea which I’m still deciding whether to write or animate. If it comes as the later, I’ll be sharing it on my Youtube channel and Tumblr, which you can find in my bio. :)
> 
> Special thanks to my reviewers for keeping my spirits up! This one is for you!

 

“Please tell me we got them all,” an officer pleaded as he stretched his arms over his head, causing a few bones to pop.

“Officer Jenny says there could still be a few criminals in the loose through the island,” his partner explained. “We are going to be divided in search parties to explore it all and make sure no one escapes.”

“I can already tell it’s going to be a long night...”

Any further complaint was frozen in the officer’s mouth at the sound of rustling bushes. Due to the nature of their conversation, they were immediately in high alert, preparing themselves to confront whatever was coming.

What came out into their illuminated surroundings however, went beyond their comprehension. It was a bit hard to distinguish the blue uniform within capes of mud and leaves, but the faces were still familiar. Three officers slumped forward just as a turtle like Pokémon made itself visible, looking quite a lot better than their teammates.

“We… finally made it,” one of them whizzed out; his voice muffled by the fact he didn’t bother to raise his face off the ground.

“What in Arceus sake happened to you?”

“We came searching for Turtonator’s trainer,” another explained as he tried to get up. “Nobody told us the forest was practically a mine camp of traps…”

“Didn’t one of the kids was talking about his Pokémon being left behind?”  

“Yeah, he was in a hurry to find it, so the kids left with John and Len.”

“Wait what?!” all three muddy officer shouted at the same time.

“Yeah, they are heading for the camp set at shore.”

Turntonator stared with his mouth hanging open. They had missed his trainer somewhere in their way there...

 

.:oOo:.

 

It was a quiet walk through the dark forest, with no eventualities thanks to Mewtwo’s guidance. Kukui walked behind the group, just beside Fenriar to keep an eye on everyone. He was actually relieved to see that none of the kids seemed psychologically scarred by their experience. He had been particularly worried about Ash, but as always, he appeared to be in a cheerful mood, even if he seemed ready to fall over in exhaustion.

Kukui frowned. The kid had stubbornly insisted in walking on his own despite their objections. And the Professor was painfully aware Ash was only trying to appear strong for his friends. As noble a cause that was, it was still reckless, so he made a mental note to keep an eye on his behavior in case the kid’s body decided to follow through on Kukui’s predictions.

“So, what’s going to happen with Team Flare now?” Serena was asking in curiosity.

“It turned out, the International Police had been investigating this group when they first started operating,” one of the officers accompanying them mentioned. “They will be taking responsibility for them once we head back to the islands.”

“The International Police?” Mallow asked.

“It’s a police force that has jurisdiction and operates over most of the regions around the globe,” Professor Kukui explained. “They normally take charge in investigating dangerous criminal groups like Team Flare.”

He almost cut his explanation short at seeing Ash stumbling forward, but relaxed once Ash managed to find his footing almost immediately and so smoothly it almost had looked intentional. The Pokémon beside him sent him worried glances, but didn’t say anything when seeing Ash’s dismissive gesture.

Fenriar was another story, Kukui noted when hearing the beast huffing in something akin to exasperation before doubling its step forward.

The kid’s surprised yell stop the group on their tracks to look behind them, were Fenriar was lifting the trainer off the floor by the collar of his shirt.

“What are you doing Fen-Whoa!” before he knew it, Ash was already sitting on Fenriar’s back blinking in confusion.

Bonnie was the first to react, running to Fenriar and jumping in excitement with uncontained giggles. “Me too! Me too! I want a ride!”

“Bonnie!” Clemont looked both worried and exasperated.

Fenriar seemed a bit confused at the child’s hyperactivity, but it wasn’t long before it caved to her request, sitting her just in front of Ash. Seeing Fenriar continued to walk as if nothing had happened, the rest of the group followed; previous conversation long forgotten.

“Yay! This is so cool!” Bonnie laughed.

Kukui raised his eyebrows at seeing Fenriar somehow managing to look amused, despite its beastly features.

“I must say, Fenriar is a lot friendlier than the legends implied,” Lillie mentioned with a smile.

It was as if a light bulb had turned on right on top of Ash’s head.

“You know the legends, Lillie?” he asked her in sudden excitement. “Do they mention anything about Fenriar’s siblings?”

This got the wolf-like Pokémon’s attention and the curious glances of the rest.

Lillie nodded as she frowned in thought. “Jorminder y Haidee... There is not much information about Jorminder. In Nordic cultures, they associate Gyarados as direct descendants from this sibling. It was described as a huge sea serpent that could surround the Earth with its length...”

“Wow! That’s huge!” Bonnie exclaimed.

“What about Fenriar’s sister?” Ash pressed.

“She was the youngest. All stories shown her as a human girl with dark hair and pale skin, but due to the nature of her siblings, it is put into question if that is her true form.”

Ash nodded in understanding. When he saw her in the memory, he almost thought she was a ghost. There was definitely something extra-natural about her.

“So Fenriar has siblings… That’s so sweet!” Mallow commented.

“Fenriar has been looking for them—” Ash explained before pausing, unable to contain a yawn. He continued, rubbing at his teary eyes. “...I thought maybe the legends could give clues to their whereabouts.”

Fenriar roared in interest, managing to express its desire to know more. Seeing this, Lillie concentrated further.

“All versions of the legend vary in content…” she finally said. “And they are not very detailed as to talk about specific locations. But seeing as they originated from Nordic lands, I would suggest starting there.”  

“Are you from those lands, Fenriar?” Bonnie asked, receiving a slight nod.

_“If you need help, I can take you there once we leave,”_ Mewtwo offered.

“You are leaving?” Clemont asked.

_“The island has been discovered. It is far too dangerous to stay,”_ he explained as he glared at the memory of Lysandre’s face. _“We can’t risk other humans like those in Team Flare to find us.”_

“Hey Ash, are you okay?” Lana’s question was met with silence, so Bonnie turned her head upwards to look at his face and noticed he had slumped slightly forward.  

“Is he… snoring?” she blinked. Understanding the situation Bonnie grinned broadly, reassuring the others around them. “He’s just taking a nap.”

“I guess it is only natural,” Clemont tried to reason. “I can’t imagine how exhausting it must be to have all your energy drained and refilled.”

“And, he is not the only one,” Kiawe mentioned, wishing he could just let himself drop to the ground and lie there for hours.

_“We are almost there,”_ Mewtwo announced for their sakes.

 

.:oOo:.

 

And indeed, it wasn’t long before they found the shore, and eventually the police camp. The officers’ initial reaction was to send wary glances to the huge beast and the bipedal Pokémon approaching, but once they saw the kids and their teammates, they knew not to worry and concentrated instead on receiving the group by providing them with a health check; which made most of the kids whine; and the promise of a warm dinner; which got them more willing to cooperate at the prospect of food.

Soon enough, the camp was eased up into a sense of normalcy despite the initial circumstances and Mewtwo found himself conversing with Pikachu; Fenriar standing in the sidelines, content with just listening.

_“I see. So it was no coincidence that you were here.”_ Mewtwo noted, not looking even slightly surprised at what he had been told.

“Pi pika…” Pikachu nodded. “Pikapi pi-pika pika pikachu.”

_“That sounds troublesome indeed.”_

Pikachu sighed in agreement before murmuring with a deadpan expression. “Pika pi pi chu chupi…”

That got a confused expression from both listeners. _“What do you mean he has a record for the longest head first dive?”_

“Excuse me,” Serena’s voice got their attention to the approaching girl and her starter, who were carrying each a tray of desserts. “Our first batch of Poképuffs just came out, so I was wondering if you would like any,” she said timidly.

Pikachu right away agreed, saying his thanks as Braixen let him choose one from her own tray. Seeing the electric type enjoying the treat was prompt enough for Mewtwo to levitate two Poképuff with Telekinesis for Fenriar and himself.

“Th-thank you… for what you did for Ash,” Serena suddenly said, unable to stop herself from stammering her gratitude at such an intimidating presence.

_“So, you are one of Ash’s friends,”_ the Pokémon commented.

“Pi, Pikapi, chu chu pi,” Pikachu said grinning mischievously.

Fenriar perked up in interest.

_“I see…”_ he took a bite from the Pokétreat before adding. _“Do make sure to keep her safe.”_

“W-What?” Serena suddenly felt her face warming up for some reason. “What did you tell him, Pikachu?”

Instead of answering, he smiled even wider. That didn’t comfort her at all.

“Brai, Braixen-brai,” her fire-type shrugged with a dismissing expression.

_“Oh, so that is what you call a joke,”_ he looked at the puff in thought. Then back at Serena making the girl shrink a little. _“Too bad…”_

“H-Huh?!”

Both Braixen and Pikachu smirked in amusement.

 

.:oOo:.

 

At the other side of the camp, Ash was just walking out of the medical tent, complaining about being hungry and wondering why his checkup took longer than the others’.

“It shouldn’t be surprising after what happened,” Clemont commented patiently as he walked towards his friend beside Greninja with two warm bowls of soup each.

“Thanks, Greninja!” Ash said taking one of the bowls from his Pokémon. “Still… you could have waked me up...”

They went to sit a little far away from everyone else, where Kiawe hadn’t even touch his food, sulking in his lonesome; dark waves of depressing aura could be seen coming from him.

“You haven’t found Turtonator yet?” Ash guessed, getting him out of his dark musings.

“The officers I asked said he went looking for me!” he cried. “For all we know he is somewhere lost in the forest!”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Clemont tried to reassure him. “He went with three other officers, so they’ll make sure he is safe.”

“Here’s an idea!” Ash said brightly as they took seat beside him. “Why don’t we finish eating and then go looking for them?”

Kiawe threw him a deadpan look. “In your condition? Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m totally fine!” Ash retorted with a bright smile, just as Greninja passed him the second bowl; the contents of the first completely gone. “I just need to eat so I can gain back my energy!”

Clemont smiled a bit unsure; Kiawe on the other hand frowned in thought. Ash continued eating without concerns, already in his third bowl when he finally noticed his friend’s expression.

“Kiawe, your head is steaming…”

“Huh?”

“You are making that face that you do when you are thinking too hard,” Ash explained as he pointed at his own face and frowned with an exaggerated visual imitation.

Clemont watched his friend's antics with certain amusement, but didn't comment about how Ash himself tended to do that same expression when _he_ was thinking too hard.

“That’s your fault!”

“Huh? How is that my fault?” Ash asked with a confused frown.

“You just keep avoiding talking! That’s why!”

“What are you-?”

“A group of wanted criminals just _kidnapped_ you _and_ almost _killed_ you in their attempt to destroy the world! And you act like nothing’s wrong! That’s just… not normal!”

Seeing as Ash was not about to give an answer to that, being too busy feeling speechless, Clemont decided to give him a hand.

“It may not be my business but… maybe I could help you understand?” Clemont offered. Kiawe kept quiet but looked attentive, so Clemont guessed that was his permission to continue. “During our journey through Kalos, we encountered an undiscovered Pokémon and befriended it. It turned out, Team Flare was after it, trying to control its power so they could rebuild the world by destroying it first; much like they were trying to do with Fenriar… Because of that, we ended up confronting them several times along the way. It could be we just created some kind of... immunity to feel scared in certain situations; even if we still took them seriously.”

Kiawe stared at the two of them, trying to understand their point of view with the new information he’d been told, but there was something still bugging him.

“I guess I can understand that much,” he said. “But that’s no reason to bottle up everything. Why be afraid of telling your friends everything that happened, if they can deal with it as much as you?”

Clemont looked confused, but Kiawe noticed Ash’s expression going carefully neutral.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you?” Kiawe asked him directly. “Something happened then and you kept quiet about it. The Team Flare crazy ladies hinted as much. And now, you are doing it again with whatever happened that got your Pokémon so upset with you.”

Ash seemed to clam up with a very serious expression. Kiawe was afraid he had made his friend angry with his bold prying, but Ash only closed his eyes and sighed in resignation, taking a hand towards the back of his head.

“Is not that I’m afraid you know. It’s just… I don’t see the point of worrying anyone over something that was already solved, anyway.”

Clemont frowned with uncertainty, still caught in what Kiawe had said. “When you said ‘then’ are you talking about the incident back in Kalos? Did something else happen?” he whispered to himself unsure.

As he did, he thought back to that time, hoping to grasp something he was missing… There was a long period of time when none of them knew where Ash was during the attack, and they were so invested in solving their own problems, none of them thought to search for him, even though he said he was going to meet them back at the Prism Tower and didn’t make it until later on. And then he noticed it. The weird part of the turn of events. The piece he should have wondered about then, but didn’t even cross his mind because there was a world threatening emergency to attend.

“Before we met back at Prism Tower during Team Flare’s take over…” Clemont looked at Ash as he started, noticing his poker face slipping slightly into a wary frown. “You said you were going to go searching for Mairin with Alain and then meet us back at the tower, but she arrived alone with neither of you. She said she did meet you and that you were heading that way. Still, we fought our way in, but never saw you there until after we have taken the tower back. Something happened during that timeframe, right? Something kept you from arriving until then.”

Ash turned his sight away from them as if embarrassed, before he spoke a lot more quietly than what was normal of him. “It… was kind of like that. I mean… we got there earlier. Or at least I think so… I just don’t know at what time that was exactly…”

Clemont frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I- we were…” Ash took a long breath and tried again. This was a bit of a delicate part to explain, since he didn’t want to mention how Alain had been part of their organization; even if it was for the right reasons. “Alain and I were ambushed by the purple-haired lady when we were trying to reach Mairin and... I was careless so one of her Pokémon knocked me out. Next thing I know, we are at the top of Prism Tower, seeing the city being destroyed by Zygarde.”

They kept quiet after the end of the explanation. Clemont trying to piece together what Ash meant with what little he said and what he wasn’t saying… It seemed Team Flare had actively confronted them out of nowhere. Which didn’t sound logical. Why go out of their way to confront a couple of trainers that weren’t even near their target? If anything they would have kept them busy so they could not reach the Tower. But they had instead taken them right where they were operating… why? ...Then the conversation with the Team Flare admins in the forest came to his mind and something clicked.

“T-This… is not the first time you’ve been targeted by them…” he whispered in realization. A feeling of guilt drowning his stomach at the thought of Ash needing help and not getting it even though Clemont was so close by. If only he had noticed before...

Ash looked incredibly uncomfortable, just proving Clemont’s guess to be right. Kiawe caught on fast and folded his arms.

“And it had to do with your bond with Greninja,” he guessed.

“Why would they have been so interested in that?” Clemont asked outloud as he thought hard on what use that could give them. Were they trying to study how it worked to replicate it perhaps?

“Lysandre said they wanted to control it,” Ash answered in automatic.

“Control it?” that didn’t make sense, for that to work they would need to control the u… sers... “The red beam!” Clemont exclaimed in sudden realization.

“Huh?!” both Ash and Kiawe jumped at the sudden outburst.

Flashbacks of the time were he was exposed to the same red light came back to his mind. Thankfully, he had been prepared. But even with the neutralizing chip he used to protect his mind, he remembered it being painful. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much more painful the experience would have been, had he being hit with the laser without protection. He shivered at the thought.

“What beam?” Kiawe asked in complete confusion.

“There was this control system Xerosic built to control Zygarde!” Clemont explained. “Once they managed it, it was really hard to make it snap out of it!” he turned to Ash next. “Did they try to use it on you too?”

Ash looked a bit panicky at this and raised his palms in defense. “Y-Yeah but, we managed to break free before anything happened! Beside, we were fine after that, right?! So you don’t have to worry about it!”

Greninja nodded beside him, supporting his trainer’s statement.

So that was it, Kiawe thought. Whatever he didn’t want to tell them had to do with what that beam did. And if he was reading Ash’s reaction correctly, it was more serious than what he was trying to make it sound.

“But they still used the beam on you, didn’t they?” Seeing as Ash refused to admit if he had guessed correctly, Clemont pressed. “Ash, if that’s what it was you need to tell me! What if that thing had secondary effects on you and Greninja? We should have given you a check for lingering control waves or something!”

“You were also hit by it and you were fine, why would we be any different?” Ash asked in sudden irritation.

“I was using a multi magnetic wave blocker!” Clemont explained as if it was obvious. “Jamming number 1, remember?”

“A what?” Kiawe’s question was completely ignored.

“I’m _fine_ ,” Ash said forcefully as he turned away and crossed his arms. “No use worrying about it now. Nothing happened.”

The only lasting effects had been sore muscles and a very annoying headache that went away a couple of days after. Something he didn't dim worth mentioning.

Clemont looked doubtful but decided to let it go anyway. “I didn’t mean to be nosy, but we are friends, right? I just want to make sure you are okay…”

Ash deflated at that and looked back at his two friends. “Sorry about that. I just, don’t want you to get all worried about it. I mean, it’s not the first- ...I-It’s not a big deal. Really.”

Kiawe frowned noticing how Ash had slipped and stutter at the end. He couldn’t help feeling like Ash was hiding more than they first thought, but maybe it wasn’t wise to push him to tell them. Yet…

“Ash, whenever you need someone to talk to, you know you can count on your friends, right?” Kiawe said. “We can take it.”

Clemont nodded his agreement and Ash looked at them both with slight surprise before the beginnings of a smile started to form.

“Got it. Thanks!”

 

.:oOo:.

 

A little ways away from them, Slowking stood apparently alone, content in just watching the camp completely unnoticed.

“Another world crisis comes and goes,” he suddenly said, receiving a snort in response. He smiled knowingly, but didn’t comment, letting the other presence make themselves known.

_“You say that as if it was common occurrence…”_

“It might as well be as far as the chosen is concerned,” he answered back without turning to look at the translucent man in blue behind him.

_“I still think he is too young to be dealing with that prophecy of yours,”_ the man commented in disapproval. _“But you know? ...I can’t help but feel like there is no one else better suited for the job.”_

Slowking nodded, agreeing to both statements. As the silence set back comfortably between them, Tyrus leaned his back against a tree and looked up at its branches, lost in a memory.

_“When I was retelling Fenriar’s story, I was ready to be judged harshly, or at least get a complaint of why I didn’t explained myself to Fenriar sooner. But that never happened,”_ he said. _“Instead... He showed Fenriar his memories of our conversation, so it wouldn’t be mad at me for what I did.”_

“That does sound like him,” Slowking commented with slight amusement.

Tyrus smiled. _“He is a good kid, alright.”_

 

.:oOo:.

 

Early afternoon of the next day found Team Rocket sprawled on the forest’s grass back at Melemele Island. After an almost all-nighter traveling through the ocean, their only concern was to catch up on some sleep. So when several flying rides passed by over the top of the trees, they barely looked up in slight interest.

“Aren’t those the police rides we saw yesterday?” James pointed out.

“D’ twerps must be back too,” Meowth agreed.

“Well, whatever,” Jessie dismissively turned around to try and keep sleeping. “As long as the bratty kid doesn’t get himself involved in another end of the world fiasco for the next twenty four hours…”

“Make that a month,” James requested earning a snort from his female teammate.

“You are dreaming impossible.”

“In dreams is where I wish to be right now,” Meowth commented, already closing his eyes sleepily.

“Team Rocket is taking a nap for today…”

“Wobo-wobbuffet…”


End file.
